Change happens through crisis. God changed Jacob’s name, which means ‘deceiver’, to Israel, which means ‘a prince with God’. And He did it through crisis. Realising he had to go home and face the wrath of his brother Esau, whom he’d mistreated, Jacob became desperate. That night in his tent he wrestled with the angel of the Lord. And the change in his life didn’t come quickly or easily, because we’re told he wrestled until daybreak. But suddenly it dawned on Jacob that he was wrestling with God, and it was a fight he couldn’t win.
Likewise, God will let you wrestle with an issue you can’t resolve, to get your attention. He’ll bring you to the place where you must concede, ‘I can’t handle this situation. It’s too big for me. I need God!’ If that’s where you are today, you’re on the cusp of a breakthrough. If you’re asking God to make you comfortable in the mess you’re in, forget it – it’s not going to happen. ‘As an eagle stirs up its nest…so the LORD alone led him’ (Deuteronomy 32:11-12 NKJV).
A mother eagle withholds food from her children to persuade them to leave the nest and learn to fly. Can you imagine what they’re thinking? ‘It’s my mother doing this to me!’ And God will do the same to you. He’ll allow a crisis in order to get your attention. He knows you won’t change until your fear of change is surpassed by the pain you’re experiencing. Bottom line: ‘The Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.’
1 King 6-7, Acts 4:1-22
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