This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. . . . he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket . . . “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel . . . ” . . . Then he blessed Jacob there.

Most people would have given up on Jacob, the scheming deceiver and manipulator. But not God.

One night, while attempting to appease the brother he had stolen from, Jacob met the Lord. He grabbed hold of the Lord and for hours, tried to wrestle a blessing from Him.

What did the Lord do? He touched Jacob’s hip socket and put it out of joint, so that Jacob wound up helpless before the Lord.

The Lord changed Jacob that night. He showed Jacob how it was only when Jacob’s grabbing and wrestling finally stopped that His grace was able to flow. That night, God changed Jacob’s name from “deceiver” to “prince” (Israel), and added to him blessings that were beyond his own efforts.

You see, we cannot try to wrestle blessings from God. It is when we give up on our scheming, deceiving, and manipulating to get ahead in life, and completely trust His grace alone that His provision flows unabated.