"Fear God, Love God, Serve God": "War Wounds"

But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
The man asked him, "What is your name?"
"Jacob," he answered.

Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob,

but Israel, because you have struggled with God

and with men and have overcome."
(Genesis 32)

"When he saw that he had not prevailed against him,

he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's
thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him."

(Genesis 32:25)

Blessed, broken and given ... the three that encompass "the limp." It is in brokenness that we discover the deepest things of God; it is when our wills crack and break asunder that we realize WE are not God; it is when we've fought long and hard and we're sitting in ashes that we look Up for the beauty; it is when we are truly broken that we SEE the glory shining through our Creator in His fullness; it is in the break and the stretch that we become strong ...

The apostle Paul learned this concept in a very strong persistent way (2 Cor. 4:6-12; 12:7-10). Afflicted, stoned, persecuted, perplexed, broken down, “always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you.” (2 Cor. 4:10-12). If you are a Christian and you haven't experienced this place of "brokenness;" you will.

Have you ever prayed, "God, use me!" Sure, most of us have prayed that prayer, but little did we know of the resulting painful consequences ... To be used of Almighty God means to become like Him in every way, and show forth His glory ... mortal flesh can't do that effectively within itself; it must be remade, molded, shaped, and crushed so that the sweet aroma of Jesus Christ, our Lord, comes through. In this flesh of ours dwells no good thing ... A rose sends forth the most potent scent when it is crushed ... The Bible gives us examples of brokenness ... Abraham and Job could tell us about it ...

You say, "What kind of God is that, who would treat us like that?" He will not put on us what we do not ask for! If we asked to be used; if we ask to become more like Him; if we ask for Him to show us His glory; if we ask to be taken higher; if we ask to know Him in His fullness ... Be prepared! Those are prayers He longs for and prayers He longs to answer. When we push Him with words like, "I won't let You go, until you bless me;" or "Ye, Lord, but even the dogs eat of the crumbs under the table;" and we pray the words He admonished us to pray, like "Command Ye Me!;" then, we must be prepared, because we are dealing with the God of the Universe, The Almighty Creator, Wisdom personified, and who are we? We are creation formed from "dust;" we are mere mortals; we are sheep reaching for our Shepherd.

What happens when God answers our requests that make Him whirl around on His heels and stare us down with steely blazing eyes? We become a glaring Moses, a pointing Deborah, a rescuing Joseph, a locust-eating John the Baptist, a powerful Paul, and a SEEing John on Patmos. We become greater than we are, mighty in the power of God, anointed with fire shut up in our bones, earth-shakers, trailblazers, and a Father of Nations!