Transformation Through Encountering God
BRD REFLECTIONS
Genesis 32:22–32, Psalm 29 (NIV)
(Foo Yu Da, Chairperson of Witness & Evangelism)
READ:
Genesis 32:22–32 (NIV)
OBSERVE:
When I read about Jacob wrestling with God, I am often reminded of his persistence to ask for God’s blessing, insisting that “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (v26b). But in this reading, what stood out even more for me was Jacob’s response to his encounter with God. After being blessed by God (v29), Jacob realises that he has seen God face to face and yet had his life spared. He calls that place Peniel, which means face of God (v30). For someone with a reputation for extracting blessings through deception and lies (Gen 27:36), it seems really curious to me that his takeaway from this experience mentions nothing about the blessing he had received (v29) but that he had seen God and yet his life had been spared.
APPLY:
My reflection on this is the immense power and awe of being able to encounter God. No blessing in this world can come close to an encounter with God and His grace for sparing our lives through the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Even for someone like Jacob who deceptively snatched blessings from his brother, Esau, and who longs for and persists in being blessed (v26b), the eventual blessing he got from the wrestling encounter with God does not come close to the mere experience of encountering God. I believe this power and awe of encountering God is what has transformational power in our being. This is reflected in the transformation of Jacob and signified by his name change from Jacob, which suggests deception, to Israel, which means wrestles with God.
DO:
I will commit to spending time with God in silence and in solitude just to be sensitive to hearing Him and experiencing Him, so that He may transform me to become more and more like Christ. I will not let my own human weakness or any form of guilt hold me back from this desire for God.
PRAY:
Dear Father in heaven, I thank you for your grace towards us in paying for our sins and in your transforming work to turn us away from sin towards your holiness. I pray for encounters with You. May you continue to transform me into a witness that will bring more people into your Kingdom. Amen.
