You must be aware now, sibling rivalry in a family is a really corroding factor that takes away the joy, unity, and causes long-term bitterness. This all amounts to a lifetime sickness/anger because of the many unwanted grudges. Because of our looks, credentials, capacities, abilities, our knowledge, influence, talents, gifts, favoritism, and sometimes God’s favor, like in the case of Joseph, can initiate a lot of rivalries. So knowing this, what can we as Christians do? Can we wrestle a lifetime, or can we fight till we get an answer? Do we become an enemy to our brother, as in the case of Cain and Abel? NO, not at all.

We need to take another course/diversion to tackle this. The Jabbok incident divinely favored Jacob. He had to face this wrestling with the angel of God, and the outcome is that there is a change of character, and Jacob looked for peace after years with his brother. But remember, the grave thing is, he had to pay for it. When we are really needing a blessing from the Lord, assuming there is a longtime hatred that needs to be addressed, then there will be a limp.

He had a lifelong limp, but that shows he came out clean – out of this rivalry he had been through all these years. Although he had to face the fears of all these years, and in the process, God transformed him by changing his name. He is now known as a Patriarch, and his sons, the twelve tribes, are honored in heaven at this point.

This could be a life lesson that when we choose to make peace with God and men, and in this case, siblings, we need to pay a cost, like the two occasions with David and Abraham. In Abraham’s case, it was a burial ground, and with David, it was an offering place. So anything that comes without a cost won’t last long and won’t be permanent.

In this context with Jacob, it’s a lifelong detachment for his limp. Basically, it could be something in our lives that we have to pay. We know that in life, anything that comes for free is not so valuable or lasting. We need to invest in it, which means paying a cost. Here we need to pray or confess our sins – God will really lead us into it. In the case of Abraham, he had that realization to release Lot – He gave him the option to choose which settled the issue. This way, we can give an option to choose, and eventually, God will come around to make us the head and not the tail.

The Scripture suggests, it’s good for brothers to live in harmony (Psalm 133).