Understanding the peniel experience of Jacob
The peniel experience is a must to anyone who desires to be used by God and to see the mighty move of God in his or her life. It does not matter if you are born into a christian home and your parents are general overseers to a particular denomination well known in the town. God deals with people on a different way for the purpose He has to accomplished through him or her. The peniel experience is not at your own order, the peniel experience is at God’s order.
Self is the reason why we are not properly aligned to God’s will concerning one’s life. When one is full of self, that causes a great limitation to the Will of God to be perfected in such person’s life. Once one is full of self, it is an indicator that devil is on the throne of the person’s life. God cannot have much to do with someone who is full of self. That is why the place of peniel is so necessary for anyone who sincerely needs the move of God in his or her life.
24 – “And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 – And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 – And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 – And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 – And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
29 – And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
30 – And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
31 – And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
32 – Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.” (Genesis chapter 32 verses 24 to 32)
There is a point in one’s life when nothing matters except God.
From the scripture above you can see that Jacob was left alone. Why did Jacob needs to be alone at that very moment, that was because he needed to sort out things in his life. Things are not going the right way. Though looking at him, one may asked what is he trying to sort out. There is more to this journey of life than mere physical achievements. Fulfillment in life is beyond acquiring possessions.
We all know how Jacob journey began. He deceived his brother Esua to take his birth right. Ever since then he has been on the run. How long will this run end. Every thing he has acquired so far were all acquired by one way or the other through dubious means. Though he has possession of sheep, yet he knew what he did to get possession of them all. They did not come through the right means. People may be celebrating him, but he was never fulfilled internally. That is why he need a changed in life.
There is no genuine fulfillment in life out of God.
All through Jacob life, self has been enthroned. Everything he thinks about was about his personal gain. It does matter to him if his hurts someone to achieve whatever he desires. He believes in life whatever it will take one to acquire whatever he or she set his or her heart to do, that he or she should do anything in his or her power to acquire such. It does not matter who is involved, all that matters is what one has set his or her heart to achieve.
Jacob was in that state all through his life. I have come in contact with a young guy who once told me that money is everything. We were in a public transport when we saw these young men in Mercedes Benz car cruising. He began to envy them and at the process he said boldly that he will do anything in this life to make money. When I opened up to him that there is more to life than acquiring money. He detested that with everything within him. What I said never made sense to him. The way he was bragging, I knew he can actually do anything for money. My only concern about the whole issue was when I tried to find out where he is from, I found out we are from the same state.
The true joy of life and living does not come from the possession of material things
If possession is the source of true joy, Jacob would not have desired for the peniel experience. Jacob like any other fraudster came to the point of his where he knew he cannot continue this way. If there was no changed in his life at that moment, many things will go wrong. He now has children who will look after him to take his foot steps of legacy. To him it way a no go area in his life that he needed the intervention of the supernatural.
It is crucial at that point in his life that he needed to be alone. He dare not need any distraction and that is why he was able to put everything he has acquired so far off. It was when he was alone that he received an encounter with God. Many things have been a distraction for God to stepped in into one’s life to do that which only Him can do. If you are fade up in life like Jacob, it is time you need the peniel experience. But you must know you need to let go all the baggage that will be a source of hindrance to the move of God in your life.
Understand your time of peniel and completely yield to it.
The only reason you have not experienced the peniel experience is because you are still holding on the things you should have let go. You can exermine yourself very well to know the things you should let go. Self always pop up whenever you start receiving the leading to let go certain life styles that are not pleasing to God. God cannot bend His standard because of anyone. When you are ready, God is ever willing.
During the course of his encounter with God, Jacob’s natural strength was dealt with, and his eyes were open to his weaknesses and inadequacies. What he formerly used to brag about became a thing of shame to him. Before the Peniel Experience, he used to think of himself as more important and significant than every other person. He once took unholy advantage of people’s weaknesses with his own strength and craftiness. Yet he does not feel remorse about it. It was cool by him. To him, he attributed it as though he was smart.
29 – “And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
30 – And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
31 – And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
32 – And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
33 – And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
34 – Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.” (Genesis chapter 25 verses 29 to 34)
In conclusion:
The peniel experience was a huge turn around in his life that he began to realised that all he had acquired through fraudulence means where all vanity. But after the Man touched the socket of his hip and dislocated it, the manner in which he walked and portrayed himself totally changed. Arrogance, fraudulence, lying, self-absorption, hedonism and lust for worldly things disappeared. The end result was that the wealthiest and most secure moments of Jacob’s life were the last seventeen years of his life in Goshen.
