TSoGS - Genesis 32:22-32

Genesis 32:22-32 (read me first!)

God is a peacemaker, the great healer. We know God holds us up when we face trials and when we are wronged and hurt. We sing of Gods amazing grace - of his healing power within our lives. We know his hands can soothe the worst that life has to offer. God loves to restore us.

And sometimes it hurts.

Have you wounded someone like Jacob did - with a lie, or inaction or outright slander – stealing something close to their heart? We all have. It might not be a birthright, but there are other things to take - a childhood, a dream, a job, a reputation, or a friend. We are not perfect people, and imperfect people hurt each other.

The story of Gods story is ultimately about reconciliation. Christ came to reconcile us to God, to pay our ransom. But though his death and resurrection have completed that work, I still believe that God calls us to work with him in bringing peace to the world. He definitely called Jacob.

God asked him to return to the land of his father. Back to where Esau lived. He probably remembered the face of his livid brother and the words shouted in anger and pain. He had been able to avoid him for twenty years, but now it was time.

He was still afraid. In the midst of hearing God's promises he still prayed: "Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. (Genesis 32:11)"

But he went. And it was when the time came to swallow his pride and put himself at the mercy of the person he had wronged, God showed up.

And Jacob struggled.

There are many opinions as to what the struggle meant (Henry) (Wesley), but we know that it was at this point - in the midst of returning home and facing his past - that Jacob finally finds who God wants him to be. He finds his place in God's Story. When the sun rose that morning, the Jacob of old (the deciever) had been renamed Israel (He who struggles with God).

Today is a new day for each of us. Perhaps it is time for you to wrestle with God. He may be asking you to put aside who you are and restore a relationship or heal a wound that you caused. I pray today that the people of the vine become peacemakers, that each of us to seek (even if its just in prayer) those we have hurt and love them in a way that glorifies God.

Perhaps today you can call this place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared." (Geneses 42:30)

Things to think about.

1. If there is someone you have wounded? Take this time to pray Ephesians 3:14-21 for them. Replace every "you" with thier name.

2. There are over 400 people in the Harford county detention center. Spend some time in prayer for them. They will be free soon and God may be planning to wrestle with one of them.

3. Read: Matthew 5:23-24. What do you think God is saying?