YOU CAN GAIN WITHOUT PAIN.

*WISDOM FOR TODAY.*

*YOU CAN GAIN WITHOUT PAIN.*

*Scripture Treasure.*

Gen 32:24-32

*And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.*

*And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.*

*And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.*

*And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.*

*And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.*

*And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.*

*And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.*

*And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.*

*Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.*

*Insight and Highlight.*

Jacob could have blessed by God with no added sorrow.

*Scripture Commentaries.*

As Jacob got up he found himself struggling to get up and it was the beginning of imbalances, his hip had been dislocated. The muscle on the hip had been torn and disjointed and till today

the descendants of Israel do not eat the muscle which is on the hip joint.

It was not intended that Jacob and his descendants should eat the muscle on the hip joint. Everything was meant to be freely eaten along with the flesh of any animal but this was prohibited because it was on this muscle on the hip of Jacob that was

hit. The prohibition was to mark the memorable encounter.

The only forbidden for all was the blood because in it was life but the flesh could be eaten, Gen 9:4, Lev 17:10, 14, Deut 12:23.

The dislocated hip highlighted human weakness and God's power. 

Jacob's life, though received a blessing, a new purpose, and redirection, reflected a life of victory but not without the painful experiences.

His generation would be people who learn to struggle to win.

The generation would endure pain which would eventually result 'magnificent victories'.

From Joseph's struggles which started at the age of seventeen years, his time in Pharaoh's courtyard and prison to the time he was thirty when he stood before Pharaoh making thirteen years of struggle before attaining his divine destiny, Gen 37:2; 41:46; 42-50:20.

Jacob himself admitted to Pharaoh, in Gen 47:9 that *The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.*

He was reflecting a life of wandering, hardship (like with the temporary loss of Joseph, deception by his sons over Joseph, fear of famine and anxieties over Benjamin etc,), and the unstable nature of life

The nation struggle for four hundred and thirty years in Egyptian captivity before their magnificent victory over the Egyptian warlord, Exd 1-12:40.

His story teaches that some people create a life of struggle that God did not intend for them.

If Jacob pursued God's intended purpose for him, he might not have struggled this much (or not at all) before success.

By God's divine providence Jacob may not have needed to struggle as much as he did.

God had blessed him from the womb, Gen 25:23. He could have been blessed as a man who "dwells in tents" Gen 25:27 with a character as a quiet, domestic man dwelling in tents in contrast to his outdoor brother Esau.

A life of faith which Balaam quoted as God's blessings to Jacob when he said in

Numb 24:5 *How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!*

His greed pursued him to steal his brother's birthright (no thanks to his mother, Rebecca) and he desperately needed to wrestle with God to restore him and change his name but not without pain.

Jacob could have gained without pain.

He could have fulfilled God's plan for his life without pain.

The pain from the broken hip was a reminder of the gain from the blessing.

You can gain without pain!

*Remorse corner.*

Pursue God's purpose for your life.

*Call to Word action.*

When you pursue God's purposeful plan for your life, you will not struggle as much as you would want to.

*The Christian clarion duty.*

Prov 10:22 *The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.*

*Prayer.*

Lord, help me know Your plan and purpose for my life and let me pursue it in Jesus name.

Good morning all and have a blessed day.

God bless you.

Shalom.