1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:13,320 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, thank you for listening to your Daily 2 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each day 3 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: to learn more about God and his will for us. 4 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jennifer Slattery, and after this shortword from 5 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: our sponsors, we'll dive into today's Bible verse Genesis thirty 6 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: two twenty eight. Today's Bible versus Genesis thirty two to 7 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: twenty eight. Then the man said, your name will no 8 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,479 Speaker 1: longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with 9 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: God and with humans and have overcome. The events surrounding 10 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: today's verse show what happens when we either don't know 11 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: the promises of God, don't believe he has the power 12 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: to a fill them, or know his promises but not 13 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 1: his character. This often results in self reliance, chasing after 14 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: the very things God longs to give us, but we 15 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,039 Speaker 1: think we have to earn or take, and it can 16 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,959 Speaker 1: lead to striving in ways that end up injuring ourselves 17 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: and others. Sadly, I'm speaking from experience. Early in my 18 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: healing journey, I increased a relational conflict through defensiveness, a 19 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: self protective behavior triggered by a fear of rejection that 20 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:35,680 Speaker 1: ironically brought the very result I longed to avoid, a 21 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: shattered friendship. The day after, I turned to God, frustrated 22 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 1: with how I'd behaved and a pattern I'd noticed. Initially, 23 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: God seemed silent, leading me alone in my confusion and pain. 24 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: About an hour later, however, he spoke through a podcast 25 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: episode on the wrestling match recorded in Genesis thirty two. Initially, 26 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: this passage confused me until I lived it. Sitting in 27 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: the shame and regret of my behavior, the deeper meaning 28 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: of this account began to unfold in a healing way. 29 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: You see, Jacob was born as striver. Up until this 30 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: pivotal moment, mere hours before, he encountered one of his 31 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,239 Speaker 1: greatest fears, his brother, who had vowed to kill him. 32 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: His life had been marked by striving, and this had 33 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 1: greak havoc on his relationships, causing him to flee his 34 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: homeland to live with his relatives, where he found his wife, 35 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: well actually two wives, and began to form a new life. Eventually, 36 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: things there in Patent Aaron became so tense between him 37 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: and his in laws that he fled again, this time 38 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: at God's leading. Meaning this was an avoidance, but obedience 39 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: that's an important shift. Yet, although the Lord had promised 40 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 1: to remain with Jacob, Jacob was still afraid because his 41 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: obedience would force him him to confront the brother, who, 42 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: as far as he knew, still wanted to kill him. 43 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: Only now his brother had four hundred men under his command. 44 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: And here's where my admiration for Jacob grows. He could 45 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: have argued with God. He could have delayed obeying, or 46 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,679 Speaker 1: taken the long road home. Have you ever done that? 47 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: Sat Christ's clarification, not because you didn't hear him, but 48 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: because you didn't want to, or taken those first steps 49 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: only to stall when you near danger. Jacob didn't. Instead, 50 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: he wrestled with God the night before encountering the man 51 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: he feared would kill him and his clan. He sent 52 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: his family ahead so he could spend time alone with God, 53 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: and oh how I wish scripture revealed the words of 54 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: his prayer. Although those questions matter less than where Jacob 55 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: took them straight to God. In that wrestling match, he 56 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: demanded something the Lord had already promised his blessing, and 57 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: apparently Jacob assumed he could force God's hand. That strikes 58 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: me as irrational until I realize all the times I've 59 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: done the same, fighting for outcomes i'm convinced will satisfy me, 60 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 1: trying to overcome my struggles through sheer determination, or attempting 61 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:24,599 Speaker 1: to control how others see me, all behaviors rooted in fear. 62 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: So yeah, I've responded to fear like Jacob. But like Jacob, 63 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 1: I've also reached the end of myself, that place where 64 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,840 Speaker 1: God allows an injury to in essence take me out 65 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: so that I finally rely on Him again. This is 66 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:45,280 Speaker 1: the message Jacob's wrestling match conveys. He and the Lord 67 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: wrestled all night long, with Jacob refusing to give up 68 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,039 Speaker 1: until the Lord does for him the very thing he 69 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: intended all along. But first he changed Jacob's name from 70 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: the one he'd grown into to the one God was 71 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: leading him to. God took him from the deceiver to Israel, 72 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: meaning to struggle, stating, for you have struggled with God 73 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 1: and with men and have prevailed. But notice it doesn't 74 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 1: seem like Jacob prevailed. It seems like the Lord incapacitated 75 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,159 Speaker 1: him and won. Yet that is when we experience true victory, 76 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: when God, in his grace conquers our self, reliance, and 77 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 1: teaches us to lean on him. Back to the story 78 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,160 Speaker 1: I opened with. As I listened to that podcast episode 79 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: that morning, I sensed Christ saying to me, that woman 80 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: who feels like she must fight for relational safety and connection, 81 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: you can let her go. You don't need her anymore 82 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: because you have me. I will do in and through 83 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: you what your striving never can. He's saying the same 84 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: to you, he will do in and through you what 85 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: your striving never can. And so consider what area of 86 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 1: your life do you find yourself reacting out of fear 87 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:06,600 Speaker 1: of loss, pain, or disappointment. And notice the difference between 88 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: feeling those things and reacting from those emotions. There's a 89 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: difference in what ways does that fear those emotions drive 90 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: you to striving rather than reliance on Christ. How might 91 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: God want to change your name the way you view 92 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: yourself and therefore respond, Maybe take some time this weekend 93 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: to pray over those questions, asking God to meet you 94 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: and your wrestling and to prevail with His love and grace. 95 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: Let's pray, Holy Father, you are so gracious and so kind, 96 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: so loving, so faithful and present. You see our struggles, 97 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,839 Speaker 1: You see our imperfections, our weaknesses, our fears, our wounds. 98 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: You see it all, but even more than that, you 99 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 1: see who we are becoming, who you are leading us 100 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: to become, and really who you already see us. As 101 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: help our perspectives of ourselves match the way you see 102 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: us through the righteousness of your son. You have declared 103 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: us redeemed, transformed, wholly set apart, righteous, your chosen, adopted, 104 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: beloved children. You don't expect perfection, but you do invite growth. 105 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: Help us to shift the way we look at our 106 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: journeys from condemnation and shame to instead anticipation of the 107 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: beauty you are bringing about in us and our lives. 108 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: Give us wisdom as we interact with others increasingly, help 109 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: us to recognize when we are responding from places of woundedness, deception, 110 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,960 Speaker 1: and fear, and help us to turn to you so 111 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: that we can process through all of those things with you, 112 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 1: so that we can receive your comfort, your healing, your love, 113 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: your mercy, and your grace, and then love others from 114 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: a place of illness. That is our desire, and we 115 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: know that is your desire for us as well, because 116 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: you have called us tough freedom and as in the 117 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: name of your son, our Savior Jesus Christ, that we 118 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: pray a. 119 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 2: Month looking for a peaceful way to end your day. 120 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 2: Our new sister Show. Your Nightly Scripture guides you each 121 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 2: night through a passage of scripture along with a calming 122 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 2: devotional and evening prayer. It's the perfect way to end 123 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:38,800 Speaker 2: your day and help you sleep in peace. 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