Walking With a Limp
A.W. Tozer was a no-nonsense pastor and theologian whose comments often pressed in hard. One that I’ve often used is this:
It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.
I don’t know how that hits you. You might be nodding your head in agreement. “Absolutely!”
Then again, you might be shaking your head in protest. “What??? God would never intentionally hurt someone!”
But consider the context in which Tozer wrote his statement.
The devil, things and people being what they are, it is necessary for God to use the hammer, the file and the furnace in His holy work of preparing a saint for true sainthood. It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.
– A.W. Tozer
The Root of the Righteous
Tozer’s point isn’t that God is capricious in His actions – that pain and suffering come into our lives for no purpose. Rather, He takes the raw material of our humanity and shapes our character into that which most glorifies Him and best serves Him.
It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply. – A.W. Tozer
Jacob’s Limp
One of the greatest biblical case studies of this is the story of Jacob. The son of Abraham and Isaac was an inveterate manipulator who went out of his way to take care of his own interests.
Although Jacob knew God and was blessed by God, he was always scheming to his own ends.
Until God dealt with him.
The Bible records in Genesis 32 that this one who had wrestled with God spiritually, ended up, one evening, wrestling with God physically. The nightlong struggle symbolized how Jacob, all of his life, had been grappling with God.
In the end, His point having been made, the Lord wrenched Jacob’s hip out of joint. From that point on he walked with a limp.
It would ever be a reminder to the man of what he had once been and what he now was. His limp would testify to the fact that Jacob wasn’t in control of his life.
His limp would testify to the fact that Jacob wasn’t in control of his life.
The Leader’s Limp
I think there’s a powerful lesson to be learned here. For a person, especially a leader, to be used for the high purposes of God, they must first be “broken.”
Learning to not trust in self, but to be dependent upon God, is a crucial aspect of leadership development.
Learning to not trust in self, but to be dependent upon God, is a crucial aspect of leadership development.
The thing is, such a shift of mindset does not typically happen until and unless God breaks us. We must be made to “walk with a limp”, so to speak.
The Blessing of a Limp
“The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.” (Genesis 32: 31)
Most people look at the Genesis 32 account and believe the blessing Jacob received that day was his new name, “Israel.” But I believe very strongly that the blessing Jacob received was his limp.
Most people believe the blessing Jacob received that day was his new name, “Israel.” But I believe the blessing Jacob received was his limp.
In the next chapter, we read that Jacob is graciously greeted by his brother, Esau, who insists that they travel together. But Jacob says that he must travel slowly for his young children, and his young livestock.
So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.” (Genesis 33:14)
I picture this once proud man, not running ahead, but now slowly walking with his young family. He chooses to sacrifice for those around him by placing their needs above his own.
Ironically, in this place, Jacob has never been a stronger leader.
It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.
As I look back over my early years of ministry, I have to admit that I was a lot more like the man Jacob than the man Israel. I was not humble and could be quite manipulative.
Over the decades, I have been forced to wrestle with God regarding these. He pointed out my sin and underscored it with pain.
I don’t walk as arrogantly as I used to walk. I’m not a finished work yet. God still has to deal with my areas of compromise. But my limp causes me to hear His voice more quickly and more clearly than before.
May you choose to follow those who limp, and above all else, may you become one who walks with a limp.
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