神摸雅各的大腿窝
雅各是最厉害的，他肉体的生命，他天然的力量，是比什么人都强的，但是结果神还是胜过了他。如果神按着普通的方法来与他摔跤，那恐怕还有二十年好摔。但是神知道时候已经到了。当神看见雅各一直打不倒的时候，神就把他的大腿窝摸了一把。神一摸他大腿窝的筋，他的大腿窝就扭了。大腿窝的筋，是全身最坚强的筋，是代表人最有能力的地方，是代表人天然能力的中心点。现在，雅各这一个天然能力的中心点，被神摸着了。
神那一天摸雅各的大腿窝，是因为那一天雅各大腿窝的筋显出来了，突出来了。那一天，他怕以扫来了要杀他，他怕连妻子带儿女一同被哥哥杀了，所以他把他一生一世最好的本领都拿出来了。他把礼物预备好，每样各分一群，叫仆人带着，在他前头走，使群群相离，有空闲的地方，又叫他们遇见以扫时都要说好话。他想出了这样巧妙的方法来解以扫的恨，使以扫看见了就没有办法。雅各在这里，把他最大的本领都用出来了，把他大腿窝的筋显出来了。神就在这一天，摸了他大腿窝的筋。
人天然的能力都是有特点的，总有一个地方是他天然能力所寄托的地方，总有一点是他特别刚强的地方。神就是要把他那一个特点显露出来。可惜有的基督徒还不知道自己天然能力所寄托的点在那里。最可怜的人，不是软弱的人，而是不知道自己软弱的人；最可怜的人，不是错误的人，而是不知道自己错误的人。这样的人不只有错误，并且有黑暗。因为他没有活在光中，所以他虽然错了，自己还不知道。有的基督徒会说他自己这一个不对，那一个不对。但是，也许他所说的不对还不是中心，也许他里面还有最深最深的东西没有显出来，神还没有给他机会把那一点显出来。神让雅各遇见以扫带着四百人迎面而来，才把雅各所有的力量都显露出来，才把雅各那个特点显露出来。
信息重点：神借着环境，显明我们天然能力所寄托的地方。
应用祷告：主耶稣，感谢你借着环境制作我。求你帮助我不逃避、不埋怨，学习在每个经历中认识自己，并接受你的变化工作。阿们。
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The Breaking of Jacob’s Natural Life (2) — Gen. 32:25-26
God Touches Jacob’s Thigh
Jacob was the most formidable of men; his fleshly life, his natural strength, was stronger than anyone else’s — yet in the end God still prevailed over him. If God had wrestled with him by ordinary means, there might have been another twenty years of wrestling ahead. But God knew that the time had come. When God saw that Jacob could not be thrown down, God touched the socket of his thigh. The moment God touched the sinew of his thigh, his thigh was dislocated. The sinew of the thigh is the strongest sinew in the whole body; it represents the place of a person’s greatest ability, the center of a person’s natural strength. Now this center of Jacob’s natural strength was touched by God.
God touched Jacob’s thigh that day. On that day the sinew of Jacob’s thigh was fully exposed, standing out prominently. That day, he was afraid Esau was coming to kill him; he was afraid his wife and children would be killed together with him by his brother. So he brought out the very best of all his lifelong skill. He prepared gifts, dividing them into separate droves, and had his servants lead them ahead of him, keeping space between each drove, and he instructed them to speak kindly whenever they met Esau. He devised this clever scheme to dissolve Esau’s hatred, so that when Esau saw it he would have no way to respond. Jacob used his greatest skill to the fullest, and the sinew of his thigh was fully exposed. It was on this very day that God touched the sinew of his thigh.
Every person’s natural ability has its own particular feature — there is always a place where his natural ability is lodged, always a point where he is especially strong. God wants to expose that particular feature. Unfortunately, some Christians still do not know where their natural ability is lodged. The most pitiable person is not the weak one, but the one who does not know he is weak; the most pitiable person is not the one who errs, but the one who does not know he has erred. Such a person not only has faults, but also darkness, for he is not living in the light, and so even though he has erred, he himself does not know it. Some Christians would say that this matter about themselves is wrong, and that matter is wrong. But perhaps what they identify as wrong is not yet the central issue; perhaps there is something deepest within them that has not yet been exposed, because God has not yet given them the opportunity to expose it. God allow Jacob to encounter Esau’s coming to meet him with four hundred men, and only then was all of Jacob’s strength exposed, and only then was that particular feature of Jacob’s exposed.
Message Main Points: Through our environment, God exposes the place where our natural ability is lodged.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for making me through my environment. Help me not to escape or complain, but to learn to know myself in every experience and to accept Your transforming work. Amen.