Party of Three

Check-in day.  I lost .8 pounds this week---that makes  11.8 in total, I think.  This week was a bit tough.  I was ill on Tuesday---didn't eat a lot----but on Wednesday, I was starving---got to the point where I just didn't measure things out or count anything much.  I still avoided sugar----and I really don't think I ate anything too awful.  But---I didn't really accurately track what I was eating.  I exercised Monday and Tuesday (before I got sick later that morning)----but then I was still feeling beat down on Wednesday---so I skipped exercising----Thursday I just forgot to reset my alarm.  And now, here we are on Friday with a loss of less than a pound.  But that's really ok.  Feeling well enough about that.  So long as the scale is going down---so long as I'm not bailing out on the fight---I'm ok with it.

Read about Jacob wrestling with the angel this morning.  I love this story.  There's a great article about that here :  www.unionchurch.com/archive/100399.html

I always wondered---how did Jacob wrestle with an angel and win?  How is that even possible?


I love the article's explanation.  It talks about how Jacob had been fighting with God---really all is life---tricking people---deceiving and lying to get his way---without ever relying on God to care for him...This fight happens right after Jacob fled from Laban---and right before he's going back to the lands of Esau--as God commanded him---and he's frightened of Esau----because the last time he saw Esau---he stole his inheritance by pretending to be Esau---the oldest son---while speaking with his aged father.

God tried to get Jacob to understand that the real fight isn't the one going on between Jacob and Esau---but the one going on between Jacob and God.  The angel wrestles with him---all night long----but when the angel is ready to go---he dislocates Jacob's hip with a mere touch.  It isn't as if the angel couldn't have overtaken Jacob in the fight effortlessly at any moment----he fought with him for Jacob's sake.  He fought with him all night until Jacob was completely exhausted---and ready to rely only on God----until Jacob said "Bless me."  Until Jacob acknowledges where the blessings are really coming from----they don't come from Jacob's cleverness or his machinations----they come from God...

The angel also asks Jacob---Who are you?  The last person who asked Jacob---who are you?  was his father when he was about to bestow his blessing upon the person he thought was his eldest son.  The last time Jacob answered that question---it was with a lie---I'm Esau---he said to his father....  So it's doubtful that this is a coincidence when the angel asks this question again---a question that he obviously knows the answer to.....it's a reminder----it forces Jacob to confront who he really is---what he has really done----and when Jacob answers truthfully---the angel blesses him.....

Any struggle we have with God doesn't keep going because God can't end it with one touch....one breath....it goes on for our own growth....to bring about self-awareness---to bring about the realization that God is the only thing we need to depend on....I love how beautifully this story depicts that...