BLOG: I have often said, "Change is going to happen. Choose how you want to change because you'll dislike what changes choose for you." I've also said, "That which ceases to change, dies."
You have to change if you're going to survive. You have chosen what kind of change happens in your life if you're going to be successful. Let God direct your change, and you'll discover significance.
In Genesis 32, Jacob chooses to change. In what can only be called a "God moment." God physically wrestles with Jacob. They do so all night. Jacob will not let God go. Finally, at daybreak, God tells Jacob to let Him leave. Jacob says in verse 26b, But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
Jacob's life had been a rollercoaster, much of his own making. His youth and early adult life were tumultuous. Now he was heading home and wanted a new way of life.
But how?
He made peace with his brother Esau. True be known, Esau had got over his anger issues and had moved on. But Jacob was still living under the guilt of his sin. If you want to change, don't chain yourself to your past.
He sought God to change him, not himself. Jacob already knew who he was. He also knew that only God could do a work in his heart that would be lasting. Don't turn over a new leaf. It's still the same leaf. Allow God to change your heart. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Be willing to accept what God does in your life. God changed Jacobs name, which meant "thief," to Israel which means, "One who contends or wrestles with God." But He did something else, He dislocated Jacobs' hip. From that moment on Jacob limped, painfully. A reminder of who he was now supposed to be.
Don't worry. Walking with a limp is a good thing. We all carry with us reminders of who God was and is in our everyday life. Painful as some of them may be, we limp with joy, because God changed us.
PRAY: Dear Jesus, lead me to make the right changes in my life. AMEN
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