There is nothing like being in the presence of God, and experiencing His jaw dropping, spectacular love, which makes His presence worth any cost. Jacob received a revelation of this. Being a tenacious man, bent on experiencing and acquiring all that was available to Him, he wrestled God to apprehend something more in God than he already possessed.
The Bible says that this encounter changed Jacob’s life. God changed his name from Jacob, which means deceiver, to Israel, God wrestler. “You’ve wrestled with God and you’ve come through.” (Genesis 32:28 MSG)
Jacob received the blessing he was after and named the place Peniel, meaning God’s face. There is simply nothing like the presence of God, but often we settle for church attendance, good works, and knowledge about God, rather than intimate relationship that can’t help but transform our lives as we behold His face.
I want to be one who is hungry, desperate, intoxicated and awe struck by the power, and majesty of the Lord, so that settling for being in the outer courts, where I only hear about God is not an option. I want to be tenacious enough to press into the inner chambers of God's presence through extravagant worship, where I will be transformed in every encounter by His love. What is better than that?
