Episode 39 Transcript
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Abbie: Welcome to your daily bread with co hosts, Abbie Stasior and Hannah Calhoun. We're here to be your weekly source of spiritual nourishment, guiding you to find food freedom in a deeper connection with Christ.
Hannah: As we explore the intersection of faith and nutrition, these bite sized episodes will help you heal your relationship with food and your body through practical advice, biblical wisdom, and heartfelt encouragement.
Abbie: And as a disclaimer, we are not pastors, but passionate registered dietitians and sisters in Christ, offering our insights to support you on this faith filled journey to a healthier, more fulfilling life. Join us by taking a seat at our table as we break bread and allow God in to break the chains of diet culture.
Hello, hello, y'all. Welcome back to another episode on your daily bread. Today, we are going to be talking about the story of Jacob and when Jacob wrestles with God. So open up your Bibles. We're going to be starting in Genesis. chapter 32 at verse 22. Jacob wrestles with God. That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip, so that his hip was wrenched. As he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, Let me go, for it is daybreak.
But Jacob replied, I will not let you go unless you bless me. The man asked him, What is your name? Jacob, he answered. Then the man said, Your name no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans, and have overcome. Jacob said, Please tell me your name. But he replied, Why do you ask my name?
Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place penal saying it is because I saw God face to face and yet my life was spared. The sun rose above him as he passed penal, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore, to this day, the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon.
Okay, so there's actually a lot here and I, I pray that this. scripture gives people hope on their healing journey. Um, there, there really is, is a lot here. So we see Jacob wrestling with this kind of unknown, unknown figure, this man, is this a spiritual figure? Is this person from God? Is it not? Um, And in doing some research and reading some other commentaries about this verse in preparation for the episode, some commentators see wrestling with this man as us wrestling with the unwanted experiences of life.
Like, we're wrestling with something bad, and in the process when we're wrestling with something, we get hurt. We get injured. You know, we live in a fallen world, you know, Hannah, you and I talk about this all the time, like we live in a fallen world. We're not free from burdens and diseases and, and hurts and pains.
And, um, the Christian life does not, protect us from, from suffering. You know, we, we all are going to suffer. Um, and when we are wounded, some commentators say that that is. Like having a memory of those events, it brings up, it brings up wounds. Um, and when Jacob asks for a blessing, that is him asking for hope, asking for some sort of message, asking for a meaning.
Um, so when we are hurt in life. God will make it all work together for good, and there will be a blessing, there will be some sort of meaning or lesson , taken out of that hurt and that experience. And yeah, at the end, you might be walking with a limp, you might have some scars, you might have some, , visible hurts to show that you've weathered some storms.
But you ultimately are going to be blessed because God of that experience. And, um, you know, my pastor says it all the time. He's like, you want people in your life that walk with a limp because you want people around you that are battle tested, that have weathered some storms, that have been through some things and have survived, that have overcome.
He was blessed because he overcame those things and he persevered with what he was fighting with. He was persistent. And he overcame those things and that's when that's when the blessing came is when when we're when we're persisting through those things So I just pray that you know, whatever you're struggling with right now if you are hurting You need to trust that you will be healed because hurt people Become healed people and then when we are healed We can turn around and help people through that experience.
And we might be walking with a limp. I mean, we know Jesus kept his, kept his scars from the cross to show his wounds. and isn't shying away from that. And he let the disciples touch those and see those and see, look, look what I've been through. And now I I'm in, I'm in a place to help and I'm going to send the Holy spirit to be able to help you too.
So, you know, um, but yeah, I think that this could really be a story that we cling to on our healing journeys. And, um, also when prepping for this episode, I was getting so emotional thinking about some of my patients. One patient in particular, um, I tell her, if you're listening you know who you are, I, I tell her every appointment you are going to have such a strong testimony, you're going to be able to help so many people, like, I already see how the Lord is, is using you, and I know that you're not fully, like, healed yet, but I just, I know that God is going to use, use your story Because I can see you healing, and I know that God is you powerfully.
And, um, I think that can give us a lot of hope in our season of healing, knowing that, okay, God's gonna, God's not going to waste this hurt, and I'm going to be able to help other people through this.
Hannah: Yeah, like I, I just hope that, you know, you guys as listeners are considering what is an exhausting struggle that you're wrestling with, or currently, or one that you've been through that has left you crippled.
You know, physically, emotionally, um, you know, Jacob, his story, we would encourage you to go and dive into the story of Jacob. His life was not easy. It was a constant struggle. There was a lot of hostility and You know, but God promised Jacob that through him would come this great nation and that The world would be blessed.
Um, but his life Was not perfect um, he had a lot of issues and anxieties and fears and You know, it's that's why the Bible is such a powerful gift that God has given to us because, you know, we can see the stories of these people who, you know, when we realized that they were people who had feelings and they're just like you and I and how God used them and, you know, When we stop considering it to just be like a bible story, but realize that these were real human beings, it's, it's so powerful and we can relate to that.
And um, maybe your struggle that you're wrestling with is an eating disorder. Maybe it's a struggle with body image, or um, even just trying to figure out how to take care of yourself, and how to take care of your household. You know, there's so many. Responsibilities that we have in this world and it can feel like taking care of ourselves is, you know, bottom of the list, you know, if we get to it, and, um, you know, God promises that, that we will be healed on this earth.
We don't know, maybe, but he, we will be healed in, in heaven when we are reunited, uh, with him. And it's. It's when we realize and proclaim that we cannot go on in our own striving without the Lord, then we receive God's blessing. Once we confess, God, I cannot do this without you. I cannot live without you.
This life and do anything without your strength working through me, then we receive God's blessing. Um, so, you know, it's, it's definitely something to consider in your quiet time. What is it that you are wrestling with? What has left you crippled?
Abbie: Yeah, and maybe what's the blessing in that what is the silver lining and maybe what could be the opportunity to down the line bless others through that healing and your and your testimony.
Hannah: Yeah. Yeah. And I, I have like weird hip issues because Like, my pelvis is crooked. I don't know. Anyway. And I, oh my gosh, when I am like wearing the wrong kind of shoes for too long and, you know, usually around like the holiday time when I'm doing Christmas shopping and I'm walking around with sandals at the mall or whatever, you know.
Um, my hip gets messed up, and when my hip is messed up, that's not something you can hide. Because you're, you're walking weird. Like, it's hard to walk normal. You know, and so it's interesting how this, this limp that Jacob had, you know, he had a limp. You can see someone with a limp. You can tell when someone, you can't hide it.
You can't hide it.
Abbie: Also, I need to actively always remember that you live in Miami because I'm like, who is going Christmas shopping in sandals? I don't know.
Hannah: Sorry, I was
Abbie: getting
Hannah: so focused on that. Oh, yes. I forgot that not everybody It's summer year round. It's like 90 degrees all the time. I love it. That's if we're lucky. It feels like 100. Yeah. You walk outside and it feels like you walk into a bathroom where someone had just taken a hot shower. Like it's damp and hot.
That would be good. Yeah. Sandals off all year round.
Abbie: I love it. I love it. But yeah, right. That's not something that you can hide. And I think that's where Like if you're someone that like has scars or stretch marks, right? Or if you, you know, had a baby and, you know, have gained weight and, you know, or if you just gained weight overall, or if you have, um, acne scars, right?
It's things that are visible, um, or any other like skin things, you know? Loose skin even, you know? Loose skin, yes, 100%. Loose skin,
Hannah: stretch marks, you know, both.
Abbie: All of the things like there's, there's beauty in that. There's blessing in that. There's lessons in that. And, um, that's not something that Jesus would, would shy away from.
And I think it's, Jesus can empathize having those, those visible scars and the hurt. And I, and I love that. It's not, they're no longer wounds. but they're healed scars.
Hannah: Yeah.
Abbie: And there's a difference. It shows that there's healing. There's been growth there. Um, and yeah, it's healing overall and Jesus, Jesus empathizes.
And so I think if we're struggling with that and we're not seeing the beauty in that or the blessing, and we're really in our fields, in our hurt, we need to bring that to him. It's an invitation to invite him in. To, um, to allow him to comfort you and be our great comforter and let him collect all of your tears in a bottle.
Hannah: Yeah, yeah. So considering, you know, how Jesus shows his scars as, you know, part of the testimony and how can our healed wounds and healing wounds, how can our scars, you know, stretch marks, loose skin, whatever it may be, how can that be part of, you know, our testimony? We don't have to hide. The things that we have gone through, you know, our scars might be physical they might not be physical and we we don't have to be ashamed because we know that God works all things for the good of those who love him and who are called according to his purpose and um, he will finish the good work that he has started in in our lives and You know, like we were saying at the beginning we are not immune Um, you know, to the sufferings of this world.
We're in the world, we're not of the world, and we will have battle wounds of being, fighting the battle, the spiritual battles of this world. Um, mental health struggles, physical health struggles, relational struggles, and um, whatever it may be, and we don't have to hide our scars. We can wear them and share them as part of our testimony.
Thank you for joining us on this episode of your daily bread. We hope you found inspiration and practical guidance to nourish your body and soul. Remember the journey to a healthier relationship with food and a deeper connection with Christ is ongoing and we're here to support you every step of the way.
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As we conclude today's episode, we encourage you to take what resonated with you into your quiet time with God, allow God to reveal to you any changes that you can make for his glory, trusting that you are fearfully and wonderfully made in his image. Stay tuned for our next episode where we'll continue to explore how God's word helps us heal our relationship with food in our bodies Until then may you find both physical and spiritual nourishment and may you be filled with his peace and joy.
God bless
