By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he worshiped, leaning on his staff.
Hebrews 11:21 HCSB

Now as you read this scripture passage, you might think that Jacob was leaning on his staff because he was an old man and he was. But, this is not why he was leaning on a staff. Way back there, when Jacob was much younger, he wrestled with God.

In Genesis chapter 32, Jacob is worried about meeting up with his brother Esau as he is returning to his homeland. The last time he saw Esau, his brother had threatened to kill him. He has received word that Esau is headed his way with 400 men. Jacob makes some plans anticipating the worst and then he prays. As Jacob makes camp the night before meeting Esau, this man jumps him and begins to wrestle with him. At some point during their wrestling, Jacob realized that this is no ordinary man, and asks the man to bless him. The man changes Jacob’s name to Israel, meaning he had struggled with God and men and had prevailed, and then blessed him. This wrestling match lasted until daybreak. The man, or God as we know it to be, touched Jacob’s thigh and dislocated his hip which caused a permanent limp. He is about to meet the brother that had vowed to kill him when they last saw each other. He is exhausted from the wrestling and now crippled. He can’t even run away from his brother if he needs to. He had to rely on God.

When we think we are all that and a bag of chips, God will use that opportunity to wrestle with us and show us that He is God. When we trust in our way and not God’s way, He can cripple us and cause us to rely solely on Him.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:7 that he was given a thorn in the flesh so he could not boast, he was tormented so he would not exalt himself. He said he had pleaded three times with God to remove it from him, but God told him that His grace was sufficient for Paul because His power was perfected in weakness. When we are weak and lean on God, then we are strong.

If you haven’t learned to lean on God, He will teach you. Don’t complain if the lessons get harder as you go. The sooner you learn the lesson, the easier it will be for you. I am telling you this from personal experience. There will be tests along the way meant to strengthen your faith. Don’t let these tests get the best of you, just trust in God to walk you through them.

We are told in Proverbs 3:5-6, not to lean on our own understanding, but to rely completely on God. We are told we should trust in Him in all our ways and follow His lead as He guides us on the right paths.

I have had to learn the hard way, God doesn’t play tug-of-war with me. He will gladly take my problems and work them all out or he will sit back and watch me make a mess of things. I’ve learned leaning on Him makes things much simpler. In doing so, I have strengthened my faith. Time and time again, I have seen Him work things out for me. Even at times when it seemed as though things were falling apart, I soon realized that he was simply allowing them to fall into place.

If you have been trying to be the guide and lead yourself, you are probably getting very weary. I know. I’ve been there, done that and got the t-shirt. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus tells all who are weary to come to Him. If you have been struggling and trying to figure things out on your own, stop. Turn to Jesus, trust in Him and lean on Him.

Learning to lean on God is a process and for those of us who tend to be independent and a bit hardheaded, it may be even harder. But, I can promise you, once you get it, you wouldn’t want to do it any other way.

He wants to support you. We are told in Isaiah 41:10 that He will uphold us with His righteous hand. We are told in Psalm 91:11-12 that He will give His angels orders to protect us in all our ways and they will support us with their hands so we do not strike our foot on a stone.

If you have fallen, let Him help you up. Lean on Him and you will never fall again.

Have a great day!