153. Wala ka sa Lolo ko. For him, at times we need to wrestle with God for Him to bless us.

6 May 2021
God appeared to him again and blessed him. Genesis 35:9

Jacob Wrestles With God
Genesis 32
26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.


God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel. 
And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants.” Genesis 35:10-11


Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” Genesis 32:28


"Jacob has lived a hard life and it’s not necessarily because of others. Jacob has brought it upon himself. He deceived his father on the deathbed. He stole his brother's birthright.

But at this point in life, Jacob is wrestling with a host of emotions. He finds himself crying out to God in prayer because he’s come to the realization that he’s wrestled with people in his past and treated them poorly in the process.

It’s in that realization that Jacob goes to a dark place in his life. Maybe this is God’s way of getting back at him. Maybe he does deserve to be punished.

In such despair, Jacob wrestles with God one night. Not just for a little while, but all night long and just before daybreak, God tells Jacob to stop. But of course, Jacob being who Jacob is, he continues to wrestle. He doesn’t want to give up. God seeing this, wrenches Jacob’s hip, crippling him. But even crippled, Jacob continues to wrestle with God. Jacob is only willing to give up if he receives God’s blessing.

Jacob receives God’s blessing in the form of a name change.

God gave Jacob the blessing that God’s love for us doesn’t depend on who we are or what we’ve done. 

God’s love for us depends on who God is."

Again, God's love doesn't depend on who we are or what we've done, it depends on who God is.

Jacob found himself crying out to God in prayer because he’s come to the realization that he’s wrestled with people in his past and treated them poorly in the process.


I did not know whether I would survive that moment, whether I would wake up alive the following morning.

God's love depends on who God is. 

Lamentations 3
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

In God's great faithfulness, I survived that moment and He has made me alive until now, 17 years after my skirmish with death, to tell the story of how gracious and compassionate is our God.

Wrestling with God in prayer many years ago, I can say God blessed me, he restored my health and my life, He blessed me allowing me to see my children's children.


It is a blessing to me personally having been able to show affection to my oldest brother, Tatay, Inay, my father-in-law, and my younger sister next to me, before they passed away.


"Lord, Jacob saw You face to face and You spared his life - "So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared." The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip" Genesis 32:30-31). Lord, God of Jacob, God of Israel, in my severe adversity, my spirit wrestled in faith in Your Spirit, and You spared my life; I praise You, Lord, Merciful God, in Jesus' name. Amen."

My children's children will one day say, wala ka sa Lolo ko; for him, at times we need to wrestle with God for Him to bless us.

May you be blessed with God's Word. Amen.

Maraming salamat.




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