In the 2006 World Cup soccer playoffs, our national team won the first two matches. My granddaughter and several of her friends met at my house to watch the games. The third match ended in a tie. Instead of celebrating as they had after the first two matches, the youngsters were bitter and resentful at the outcome, even as their team headed for the finals. Watching them, I thought about Jacob, fighting with the man at Peniel. During the struggle, “he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him” (Genesis 32:25, KJV); but he prevailed. He told the man, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me;” and the man blessed him, saying, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel” (Genesis 32:28, NIV). The change in Jacob’s name signified that he had changed. He had become a person who did not give up. I understood that Genesis 32:24 described how “Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.” And, Jacob had a holy conversation in which words and silences were filled with God’s loving concern. Like Jacob, we can decide not to give up.
The apostle Paul wrote, “This one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14, KJV). In life, we experience losses, victories, ties, hurts, disappointments, and challenges. In all circumstances, we can “press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” to reach the final victory.
Like Jacob’s experience, if we encounter with a stranger, we would see revelation of God’s presence in our life. We must faithfully seek God’s guidance.
Profile Background:
Celina Norma Kwist, Santa Fe – (Argentina), Upper Room Ministries
Prayer Response to this featured article:
Do pray for God to grant us strength and assurance to help us press onwards.
The apostle Paul wrote, “This one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14, KJV). In life, we experience losses, victories, ties, hurts, disappointments, and challenges. In all circumstances, we can “press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” to reach the final victory.
Like Jacob’s experience, if we encounter with a stranger, we would see revelation of God’s presence in our life. We must faithfully seek God’s guidance.
Profile Background:
Celina Norma Kwist, Santa Fe – (Argentina), Upper Room Ministries
Prayer Response to this featured article:
Do pray for God to grant us strength and assurance to help us press onwards.
(Written by Celina Norma Kwist, Santa Fe – (Argentina), the unrecalled date/year of published time from Upper Room Ministries)
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