A Reflection on Genesis 25–32

There are seasons when faith doesn’t feel peaceful, it feels like a fight.

Not with people.
But with fear.
With regret.
With prayers that feel unanswered.
Sometimes… even with God Himself.

There are nights when sleep won’t come, when the mind replays what went wrong, what choices I could have made differently, and where God might be in the middle of it all. It can feel like wrestling something invisible, yet deeply real.

If you’ve ever been there, you’re not alone.

Scripture reminds us that wrestling is not a sign of weak faith.
Sometimes, it’s the very place God meets us.

The Wrestle We All Know

We all wrestle, though rarely with our bodies.

We wrestle with control, when trusting God feels riskier than managing outcomes ourselves.
We wrestle with disappointment, when life doesn’t look like we believed God promised.
We wrestle with shame, when our past refuses to stay in the past.
And sometimes, we wrestle directly with God: questioning His timing, His ways, His response.

But what if wrestling isn’t punishment?

What if it’s an invitation?

Wrestling forces proximity. It brings us close enough to feel God’s presence rather than just think about it. Close enough to hold on. Close enough to surrender. Close enough to be changed.

Jacob: A Life Marked by Wrestling

The story of Jacob unfolds across Genesis 25–32, and from the very beginning, Jacob is defined by grasping.

He is born holding his brother Esau’s heel earning the name Jacob, meaning heel-grabber or supplanter. As the younger twin, the covenant blessing given to Abraham belonged to Esau. But Jacob wanted the promise and instead of trusting God to fulfill it, he tried to take it himself.

He manipulates Esau out of his birthright.
He deceives his father to steal the blessing.
And when the damage catches up with him, he runs.

For years, Jacob lives in the consequences of his own striving, deceived by his uncle Laban, waiting far longer than expected for the life he hoped for. Yet even there, God is forming him. The disappointment is not wasted. The delay is not meaningless.

Sometimes what feels like a detour is actually transformation.

The Night That Changed Everything

After twenty years away, Jacob must finally face Esau, the brother he betrayed. With no strength left to rely on, Jacob prays one of the most honest prayers in Scripture:

“I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown me.”

Can you hear the desperation in his plea?
He’s facing an army he knows he cannot overcome and a brother he once betrayed.
Everything he’s tried to control has caught up to him.

Maybe like me you can relate to that.

When you realize the mess you’ve made grasping for control,

when even through you reached for control and following all the “rules” you end up disappointed and facing a mountain you can't move.

And here’s what’s powerful:
God allows Jacob to reach this point.
He allows him to run out of strength, to run out of plans,
because God lets us make our own choices
until we find ourselves in a place where there’s no plan left but prayer.
Where the only thing we can do is call on Him.

Jacob isn’t scheming anymore;.

He’s wrestled with control when he manipulated his brother for the birthright and blessing.
He’s wrestled with disappointment when things didn’t turn out the way he dreamed with Laban and Rachel.
And now, he’s wrestling with desperation as he faces his past and all the damage he had left behind.

he has no choice but to surrender

But that’s the moment when God moves in.
When Jacob finally stops running,
God meets him right where he is

Jacobs terrified. He sends his family ahead,

and in Genesis 32:24 it says,

“Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until daybreak.” 

This is the turning point.

Jacob doesn’t win by overpowering God.
He wins by refusing to let go.

God touches his hip, dislocating it and still Jacob refuses to let go.

Wounded, exhausted, and desperate, he clings and says,

“I won’t let You go unless You bless me.”

When I read this, all I can hear is:

“I won't let go because I tried it my way”

“I won't let go because I tried checking all the boxes and Im still disappointed”

“I won't let go because now I have a past that I can’t face or fix, an army in front me that I can't fight, a mountain I can’t move by my own strength ……and I can't do this.”

In other words “I won’t let You go because I need You”

God asks him a question He already knows the answer to but wants Jacob to own:
“What is your name?”

For the first time, it's like Jacob admits who he really is.
It's like he's making a confession: “I’m Jacob”

  • I'm the one who grabs what isn’t his. 

  • I’m the liar. 

  • I'm the runner.

  • I'm the deceiver.

And God responds with grace:

“Not anymore.”

“You will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and prevailed.”

Jacob walks away limping but renamed.
Marked but blessed.
Changed forever.

What This Means for Us

We all wrestle, but we don’t wrestle alone.
Every one of us has scars, limps, stories where God wants to meet us and let us walk away changed.
And those moments are sacred.

God does not meet us in the dark to destroy us.
He meets us there to rename us.

Your wrestle is not wasted.
Your wounds are not meaningless.
Your limp may become the very evidence that you encountered God.

Sometimes faith doesn’t look like victory, it looks like holding on until the dawn breaks.

And the God you’re wrestling with is the same God who is holding you.

And on the other side of this dark night, this wrestle; there’s a new name, a new identity, and a new day waiting for you.