“...But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Genesis 32:26b

My brothers and I are the youngest of our cousins. When we were still elementary school aged, the cousins were teenagers, and depending on their moods and the level of parental supervision we were either doted on or picked on at family gatherings. A favorite activity was wrestling, or “wrasslin’” as we say in the Ozarks, and being the smallest meant we rarely won. I, however, quickly earned the nickname of “scrappy.” Even though I didn’t have the mass to overpower any of them, I didn’t give up easily. There were no rules to the cousin wrestling matches, which meant my strategy of wildly swinging arms and kicking legs, scratching, and biting were all valid.

It’s hard to beat someone who never gives up…especially when they’re trying to scratch your eyes out. :)

As we got older we moved on from wrestling to card games, and our favorite was “Bluff.” Turns out I was much better at out-bluffing my cousins than physically overpowering them. One cousin in particular was harder to out-bluff than the others, and I would play him for hours until I won. 

See? Scrappy.

My ultimate goal in winning at wrestling and card games wasn’t a blessing, per se. It was more like validation and approval, but mostly just so I could avoid being the object of ridicule amongst my older cousins. So maybe I was after a blessing of sorts!

Jacob was scrappy, too, among other things. He wrestled with God all night the same way I wrestled and out-bluffed my cousins: by throwing rules out the window and with a never-give-up attitude. After a night of refusing to give up Jacob was on the receiving end of a new name and a bum hip…both things that probably weren’t on his list of must-have blessings but that signified a turning point in his life.

God honors our willingness to be transformed by our struggles. Our trials can be transformative if we have the fortitude to stick them out, to hold tight and receive His blessing in whatever form it takes. 

Thank you, God, for hard times that have the power to transform. Give us the courage to hold tight through dark times and the wisdom to receive the blessings given through the process. Amen.