Devotion
Wrestling with God
David Jacobs
Sometimes the flood of life can be overwhelming. Have you heard the phrase, "When it rains it pours"? There have been moments in my life where that certainly felt true. One stressful situation leads to another and it has seemed like I cannot get a good break my way. The problems just stack one on top of the other until I can hardly bear the weight. Once the problems have passed, I can hardly remember them and it seems that going through these trials have made me a stronger person as a result.
Jacob may have been feeling the same way in these verses. Although many good blessings have come his way, his twin brother, Esau, has come to his camp with 400 men. They left each other on unpleasant terms, with Jacob posing as Esau in order to win the blessing of their father, Isaac. This action left Esau with no birthright and without the blessing of his father, and he swore to kill Jacob.
It brings us to this scene, with Jacob worried about meeting Esau, praying to God saying, "Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children." (Gen. 32:11) He prepares a gift for Esau, hoping that the gift will soften the wound that Jacob inflicted on their relationship. He is eventually left alone, and we can assume he is wracked with stress and unable to sleep, when an unnamed man comes into his camp and wrestles with him. They wrestled until the next day, neither of them victorious, and Jacob will not quit even though he has been hurt. The other man wants to stop since the day has broke, and Jacob will only quit if the man gives him a blessing. The man does, and it is then that Jacob realizes he was wrestling with God.
When times are tough, we can all feel that we are wrestling with God. Jacob, fearing for his life, problems stacking up, refuses to quit. Against all odds, tired, injured, he keeps persevering. It may seem like it pours when it rains, but when we make it out of the storm, the world will seem that much brighter.
Prayer
Powerful and loving God, I thank you for aiding me with my struggles. Help me to view life's challenges as chances to prove my worth to you. Strengthen my will, O Lord, so that my resolve is improved with each trial and tribulation that I get through. I will not quit, as Jacob did not quit, as I wrestle demons on my march towards your Holy Kingdom. In your Holy name, I pray, Amen.
Night Prayer
A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.
Inspiration
Often, we speak before we have to opportunity to think about our words. In the heat of the moment, we immediately express negative feelings without analyzing the situation first. We jump to conclusions when directing meetings and speak in haste with our children before evaluating all sides. As leaders in any setting, we must be tactful and make decisions by weighing all details. Instead of expressing emotions with our authority, we must seek to mediate justly and reflect the mercy of God with our decision-making.
Prayer
Dear Lord, Please forgive us when we jump to conclusions and fail to lead with mercy and grace. Guide us to reflect Your character when You place us in a position of authority. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Devotion
A Simple Creed
Frances Taylor
Although the last verse of this passage is considered to be a portion of a hymn prayed by the people in the communities around Ephesus, I think of it as a creed, a simple statement of beliefs. It lets us know that they believed that Jesus was God, coming in the flesh, who was justified, or vindicated as another translation has it, by the Holy Spirit, seen by the angels, which could mean actual angels in heaven, or that he was seen by the disciples and others considered to be holy, preached by those disciples to reach out to a world that believed in the message of the Good News and was received by the Father into heaven where he would reign. Of course, I could be wrong about the actual meaning of the hymn, but it really doesn't make any difference. It makes me think about creeds, or statements of belief. I know there are a few formal ones such as the Apostles' Creed, or Baptismal Creed, and the Nicene Creed which expands a little on the first. But ...
Morning Prayer
For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
Inspiration
It may seem that the lives of some non-believers are often much easier and carefree than our own. Unshackled to principle, they may float free between pleasures with no particular conscience. But this 'freedom' is not true freedom, and one shouldn't mistake it for what it really is; being lost in the wilderness. This 'freedom' of the non-believer does not extend into the afterlife, and is in fact, shackled only to this, our material world. Since they have not had to endure the call of their consciences, they will not find our God's eternal peace.
Prayer
Lord God our Creator and Father, let me endure all that is sacred, just and fair in this world. Help us understand in facing our sufferings that we are doing so for you sake, in your glory. Thus, give us grace and show us mercy, for in answering to our consciences, we know we are doing your work. Help us stay pure ...
