Good morning friends! Welcome to another installment of Saturday in the Word. Today, we are going to take a small detour from our Simple Bible Reading Plan as we dive into Genesis 32. I believe as we approach Lent (#LENT2025) this year, it would be fruitful and worthwhile to look back at this key chapter in Jacob’s spiritual journey.
In preparation for today’s study of God’s Word, please read Genesis 32 here.
To me, there is something fitting about approaching Lent through the lens of Genesis 32.
Jacob, son of Isaac, is on his way home.
Home to the land he fled.
Home to the brother he deceived.
Home to consequences he postponed.
And somewhere between fear and reunion, he wrestles with the Lord Almighty. We won’t find anything much more Biblical than Jacob’s story.
The Setup: Angels, Anxiety, and Old Stories
Jacob sees angels at the edge of the land (v.1–2). God’s presence is not absent. Heaven is not silent.
And yet, he is terrified.
His brother Esau, whom he deceived, is rapidly approaching with 400 fighting men.
So Jacob does what many of us do:
He prays.
He strategizes.
He divides his assets.
He prepares gifts.
He hedges his bets.
He quotes God’s promise back to Him:
“O God of my father Abraham… you said to me, ‘Go back… and I will make you prosper.’”
It is a beautiful prayer.
It is also rooted in fear.
Jacob believes God but he still arranges contingencies. He makes sure he has a backup plan.
Honestly, so do we.
Wrestling in a World of Immediate Answers
That night, alone, Jacob wrestles with a mysterious man until daybreak.
Been there? Done that?
Jacob does not get a quick resolution or receive a neatly formatted answer.
He does not outsource the struggle. He can’t turn to his AI Chat for an answer.
He has to wrestle.
We live in an age rapidly shaped more and more by artificial intelligence. What Jacob faces is unsettling.
Today, we live in a world where:
- Questions can be answered instantly.
- Clarity can be generated on demand.
- Uncertainty can be minimized with a prompt.
But spiritual maturity is rarely formed instantly. Growth takes time.
Jacob limps into his blessing.
What happens to a society who no longer wrestles with difficult things because people can generate responses fast enough to avoid discomfort?
Answering the question is one thing. Living it out is another.
Formulating a plan is simple. Executing it is hard.
The Temptation to Bypass the Struggle
AI is not evil. It is a tool. I’ve said this often. Like money, it isn’t inherently bad. It’s our making it the god of our lives that taints it.
The Bible frames human creativity and technological advancements (like AI) as expressions of God-given intelligence.
Tools certainly do shape habits and our habits shape our theology. Yes, we all have a theology we live by and live out in our daily lives. Show me your bank account and I’ll show you what you believe about money and generosity.
I can instinctively and instantly reach for generated insight without sitting silently in the presence of God waiting for His revelation. If I can avoid the struggle of silence, what does that reveal about what I believe to be true about God?
What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
A.W. Tozer
I can process Scripture by asking for summaries without meditating on the actual text. But how is that forming me spiritually? No pain, no gain. Spiritual growth takes work. No discipline, no growth. We must put in the effort if we want to go beyond milk and get to the meat. Growing closer to God means sitting in His presence.
Jacob does not receive a downloadable blessing. He receives a dislocated hip.
He leaves his encounter with God walking with a limp.
Jacob leaves changed.
Friend, Lent is approaching.
Lent does not demand speed.
It asks for our surrender.
Lent asks us to confront the Esau in our life that we’ve avoided. It asks us to address the deception we justified and the fear we managed with strategy instead of trust.
Where did I trust God in my life last year? Did I formulate a Plan B?
Lent asks us to stay in the struggle long enough for God to rename and reclaim us.
“You Have Struggled… and Overcome”
The man Jacob is wrestling with tells him:
“Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” (v.28)
Jacob’s transformation does not come from mastering information. It comes from refusing to let go. We discover something profoundly countercultural played out in this scene.
In a world optimizing efficiency, Jacob models holy stubbornness.
He clings.
He demands blessing.
He endures pain.
He limps into reconciliation.
Lent in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
As Lent approaches, I find myself asking harder questions.
Genesis 32 reminds us that blessing often arrives disguised as struggle.
AI, for all its ingenuity, is designed to reduce the struggle. While there is mercy in that there is also risk.
If we remove all friction from our spiritual lives, we will also remove the very places where transformation occurs.
Reconciliation Requires Presence
The chapter is not only about wrestling with God. It is about reconciliation with Esau.
Jacob must face the one he wronged.
No algorithm can reconcile a broken relationship. That takes a human touch.
We can’t rely on a generated apology as a substitute for embodied humility. We must do the work. We need to wrestle.
Jacob will approach Esau with a limp, humbled by God. Perhaps that limp is the most honest part of him.
I think Lent prepares us for that kind of honesty.
Putting Some Bible On It
Friend, where have you used strategy to avoid surrender?
Where might technology be helping you avoid the deeper wrestling God is inviting you to take part in?
This week, as you sit with Genesis 32, resist the urge to rush to explanation. Let the tension sit. Pray Jacob’s prayer. Stick around long enough for the night to do its work.
Transformation is rarely efficient.
And the God who meets us still blesses those who cling.
I pray you may you have the courage to wrestle. Even if you limp in tomorrow morning.
Until my next post…
Be salty, stay lit.
Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™
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The Devotional Guy™ 
Thank you, David. I’m grateful for your insights and thankful for your faithfulness in reading my posts. Blessings are intended to draw us nearer to God. Sometimes, we don’t get any closer to God than in our suffering. May the Lord continue to shine His favor on you and Nancy today!
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“Jacob does not receive a downloadable blessing. He receives a dislocated hip.”
Amen, brother. This story, and many others in the Bible, poke holes in the notion that every believer in Christ will be healthy, wealthy, and wise. Some of the godliest of all time have suffered greatly, yet kept ahold of Christ.
Great thoughts, Rainer! God Bless.
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