“LORD, Bless Me Before You Go!”

“LORD, Bless Me Before You Go!”(Gen.32:22-32).
One of our popular choruses asks and answers, “Who can battle with the LORD? I say nobody.” The chorus fails to consider the story of Jacob where his name was changed to Israel. The story says. “So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak…” Realising that he could not overpower Jacob, the man touched the socket of Jacob’s hip, and his hip was wrenched as they wrestled. As daybreak approached, the man asked Jacob to let him go, but Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
The man asked to know Jacob’s name. When Jacob told him, the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
Even though Jacob asked to know the man’s name, he did not give his name, but he blessed Jacob. “Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.'”
We note that this wrestling took place when Jacob was about returning home; expecting a challenge from his brother Esau, whose birthright and blessing he had stolen.
Jacob was alone in this place because he had strategised on how to meet his brother in a way that he won’t risk everything he had. He feared that Esau may still be nursing the old animosity – to the extent of wanting to destroy him. As they say, “the guilty are afraid.”
How does this Old Testament story fit in the period when Christians reflect on the post-resurrection appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Old Testament belief was that no human can see God face to face and live. Jacob acknowledged this belief when he named that place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
God often appeared to people in angelic form; mostly in dreams and visions.
Jacob found favour with God, despite his cunning way of life. He tricked Esau and bought Esau’s birthright of first son with a dish of porridge. Later on, conniving with his mother, he stole Esau’s blessings and ran away to his uncle. While working with his uncle, he manipulated and had more cattle than his uncle. He married two sisters and their maidservants.
Yet with all his flaws, he constantly found favour with the LORD! He even wrestled with the LORD; yet the LORD blessed him!
My friend, there is a sense in which the risen Lord Jesus Christ appears to us in the same way that the LORD appeared to Jacob. Perfection is of the LORD alone. That is why he can appear to us in our imperfections. Our imperfections are the very reason why when he appears to us, he has to wrestle with us first. The LORD wrestles with us because we are like monkeys. To shave a monkey, you must tie its hands first; otherwise, it would keep scratching you.
The prophet said we should give ourselves no rest and give God no rest until he estsblishes us(Is.62:7). This is the spirit of wrestling with God exhausting both ourselves and God himself. When we wrestle with the risen Lord, it is because we want to know him more and more and the power of his resurrection!
After the wrestling comes the blessing! The best of life is not going to be served to us in a platter of gold; it comes through struggle, physical dislocation, and sleepless nights. But joy comes in the morning!
Yesterday, a picture was captured of a little girl who took a last-minute decision, ran to the pope who embraced her before he left Bamenda. My friend, in the same way, do not let the Lord go unless he blesses you!
Weekend prayer: LORD, I will not let you go without blessing me. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
17/04/2026.