I don’t remember when I first encountered the stirring quote by A.W. Tozer, but it still gets me. He wrote: “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply” (Tozer, The Root of the Righteous).

God blessed Jacob greatly. But Tozer was right, God first hurt him deeply. We find that story in Genesis 32. Jacob has received word that his brother is on his way with a small army to meet him after 20 years. The last he heard, Esau wanted to kill him. 

As was his custom, Jacob asked for God’s “help” but then began to scheme. He gave detailed instructions to his traveling party in hopes of slipping out of the jam. Jacob knows he is vulnerable. He’s in the middle of the desert with 11 young children, 2 wives, a handful of servants, and a lot of livestock. He’s helpless against Esau, who is a wild man of the field, trained in hunting, and probably still angry. So Jacob takes action.  

He “took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone” (Genesis 32:23–24).

Jacob is alone, afraid, and in the dark. He's a burdened man. But he’s not yet broken. But suddenly, out of the pitch black night, “a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.” 

You gotta love Scripture’s subtleties! No foreshadowing. No lead-in. No heads up in the narrative. Just a stranger, coming out of nowhere, pouncing on you in your most apprehensive moment. That’s how life often works, isn't it? 

Jacob was a cheat. And he was the worst kind of cheat because he possessed mental acuity, physical strength, and relational charm. Smooth skinned Jacob had the charisma to get out of anything. He was STRONG. What he doesn’t know is that his strength is a liability that has held back God’s blessing. Jacob must be broken.  

Sometimes we’re too strong for God to use. Uzziah was an Old Testament king who reminds me of Jacob. He was clever, intelligent, and industrious. He conquered nations. He built cities. He farmed. He engineered new weapons. He was a second Solomon if ever there was one. Like Jacob, he was strong. But his reign ended in disgrace. 

Here’s how the Chronicler tells the story: “His fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong. But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction.” —2 Chronicles 26:15–16

Have you ever been hurt deeply—by God? A close friend of mine in high school was one of the most promising athletes in the history of our school. Even in Junior High, everyone knew he was destined for athletic greatness—and so did he. I can still hear his agonizing cry the night he broke his leg. Not all of his tears were from physical pain. His athletic dreams, along with his femur, were shattered. Years later, he conveyed to one of our mutual friends: “You can think about a lot in the hospital bed with a broken leg.” God broke my friend, but it was the beginning of a more powerful story of his redemption. God hurt him deeply and then blessed him greatly.   

Our self-reliance must be broken. It’s devastating when it happens. We’re hardly ever prepared. God does not come to Jacob as a gentle ally but as an adversary. He breaks the remaining vestiges of Jacob’s faith in himself. Jacob actually believes that he is prevailing, that is until the mysterious “man of God” reached out and touches Jacob’s hip to dislocate it.

“When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him” —Genesis 32:25.

No serious scholar has ever questioned the identity of the strange assailant. God was the one who jumped Jacob in the dark and wrestled him to the ground. In verse 28, the “man” said, “You have striven with God,” and in Hosea 12 we read: “In the womb Jacob took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor.”

Jacob is going toe-to-toe with his Maker. The fact that He “wrestles” Jacob instead of simply punching or clubbing him tells us something: Jacob isn’t getting away this time. God has him exactly where he wants him. Wrestling is exhausting. Even five uninterrupted minutes of floor wrestling is enough to make you lose your breath. Can you imagine wrestling until the break of day—with a stranger!  

This is the most important night of Jacob’s life. Esau is coming to meet him in the morning. He needs to be at his best. Rested. Calm. Relaxed. Mentally, physically, emotionally on his A-game. Have you ever been sleep-deprived? Really exhausted? No matter what you do, you cannot close your eyes and hit the REM sweet spot? Maybe it's your body being wracked with pain. Maybe it's an over-active mind. A screaming, hungry baby. A problem you can't solve. A burden you can’t forget. It’s agonizing. 

Jacob had prayed for God to come and deliver him. But God shows up and takes him to the ground. This strange adversary is not after money, or revenge. He is after something else. He has come to take away Jacob’s strength. 

Jacob has been strong from his youth. His little baby hand latched on to his brother’s heel at birth. He rolled away the stone to water Rachel’s flock and impress her. He labored in the Middle Eastern sun for 20 years for His Uncle. Sure, he’s a quiet tent-dweller. But he’s no pansy. He had a quick, clever mind along with an able body.    

Does this sound like how God is supposed to work? We want God to come and strengthen us. To give us energy. A full, replenishing, deep, REM night of sleep. Help us to be at our best. Mental clarity. Presence of mind. Wake up ready to face the challenge. Instead, God takes all that away. He doesn’t strengthen Jacob at all. He weakens him. He maims him. Instead of fixing Jacob, God breaks him.  

Were Jacob in your counseling office the night this happened, you’d recognize him as anxious and probably want to hold his hand, pray with him, strengthen and encourage him. I guarantee you wouldn’t do what God did to him.

I wonder: are we too strong, too clever, too _______ for God to use? Like Gideon’s army, God has to strip us down of our self sufficiency. 

Do you ever feel like God is crushing you? Taking away everything important to you? Take heart! You may be on the verge of a life-changing breakthrough. 

He has to take away the things we trust in. Just a surface encounter with God won’t do. We don’t meet with God on His terms. He will not be held at arms length or manipulated. Jacob had met with God before. He saw heaven opened up. He saw a ladder spanning from heaven to earth and watched angelic creatures going up and down the ladder. It was an amazing experience. *ch. 28. He named it Bethel. House of God. But here he is, 20 years later. Same old Jacob. Unchanged. What was different this time? Jacob was alone. And Jacob had his strength taken away. He was desperate. 

What goes around comes around. Jacob grabbed his brother’s heel. God grabbed Jacob’s hip. He couldn't escape. He couldn't depend on himself anymore. He couldn't run away. He was worn down. Tired. Afraid. Desperate. God didn’t touch Jacob where he was weak. He touched him where he was strong. Take out a wrestler’s legs and he’s done. Jacob is now finally at the mercy of almighty God. He can’t call for help. He can’t run away. He’s exhausted. He’s crippled. What does God want with him? 

God wants one thing. He wants Jacob to get honest about who he really is—at his core. It is then, and only then that God will change his identity forever. That’s the most powerful point in this story. We’ll look at that next time…