;)
Jacob's Blessing
20 x 27 inches - $250.00
8 x 10 inches - $75.00
Title only on print, no other text.
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 will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there. --GENESIS 32:24-29
For a long time the Lord had been leading me to do this piece. This particular passage in the Bible, where Jacob wrestles with the angel of the Lord, is one that I believe many, perhaps all of us experience at one time in our lives. In this instance, Jacob insists " I will not let you go until you bless me". He receives his blessing but his hip is also put out of joint, and he would walk with a limp the rest of his life. This would serve to remind him of his dependency on God.
It took me perhaps a month of preparation for this piece before I started putting anything on paper. Every day I would enter my studio eager to start work, knowing that this is what the Lord wanted me to be working on. And each day the Lord would show me nothing, but compel me to seek Him in prayer. I was excited about working on this piece, but my focus was on the visual, what did Jacob look like?, what did a wrestling match with God look like? Day after day these were the questions I would bring before the Lord, always receiving the same answer - silence. I know better than to start a work without the guiding hand of the Creator, so I waited. Finally out of desperation (and exasperation), I cried out to the Lord and he answered me. It became apparent to me that what Jacob went through emotionally and not what he looked like physically was to be the focus of this piece. At this point I experienced, for a very short moment, what Jacob was feeling. The overall feelings were that of extreme fear and intense loneliness along with doubt and resentment. This was not my idea of a good time, and a hasty trip to dunkin donuts was my escape. From that moment, the creation of this artwork flowed.
I find it ironic that Jacob's face is not even in the picture. Also of interest is that the "angel" is pursuing Jacob. This was not a battle that Jacob sought after. It was a struggle that the Lord brought to Jacob.
Jacob is holding on to a root (or broken branch). He is holding on to the natural with one hand and he's taken hold of his eternal (supernatural) destiny with the other - he is wrestling with the 2 forces, wanting to go forward with God but not yet able to fully trust and let go of his agenda.