“The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,[a] and he was limping because of his hip.” – Genesis 31
These days, I seem to be limping along with a bum knee, and it’s been years in the making. No one ever told me that my daily six-mile runs in my 20s, pounding the pavement, then later moving to a treadmill for what I thought would be a softer landing and eventually settling into walking, would one day come back to haunt me. Add to that a run-in with a ski slope and a broken hip, and now my knee is screaming, “Remember me? It’s my turn!”
And wouldn’t you know it, my Bible reading for today was Genesis 32.
My limping buddy Jacob was on his way to see his brother Esau and needed a timeout from his family. He sent them across the river and returned to the other side to be alone. There, he wrestled with a mysterious man until sunrise and ended up with a broken hip. Even after his hip was injured, he refused to let go until he received a blessing. He was one hard- headed dude. The man gave Jacob a new name, Israel, because he had struggled with God and survived. Jacob said he had seen God face to face, and he walked away limping, a constant reminder of that encounter.
My constant reminder is a scar that runs down my leg where surgery was done to repair my hip. Another reminder will come every time I go through security and feel especially singled out when the alarm sounds because of my new knee. I have a feeling I’m not the only one who’s having this experience these days.
But unlike Jacob, I have never wrestled with God. I’ve wrestled with handicapped bathrooms at baseball fields that wouldn’t open, crutches that strained my shoulder, and now a knee that wouldn’t let me get to the baseball and softball fields for the end-of-season tournaments.
God didn’t do this. In fact, He protected me and kept me from hurting more than a knee and a hip over the years. Now that I think about it, I could have been run over by a car as I dodged traffic during my running days. He has been with me every step, every limp, and every hobble. He was with Jacob too; I’m just not sure Jacob knew it.
So, in the meantime—until I’m healed and walking with my grands and my husband around the block again— I will pray. In the meantime, I will feel joy. In the meantime, I will give thanks. In the meantime, I will sit in the silence. In the meantime, I will breathe in His love. In the meantime, I will feel His touch and know I am His.