A few days ago, I posted this quote from Vincent Cheung, and got another, if predictable, yet, unimaginative response:

“The Bible teaches the opposite. Jacob wrestled with God and said, ‘I will not let you go until you bless me.’ So God blessed him, and called him Israel, meaning ‘a prince with God.’ Jacob’s tenacity, his refusal to let go until he received God’s blessing, was counted as faith. This persistence brought him into a deeper relationship with God. Jacob did not separate God from his blessing, but he understood that to seek the blessing of God was to seek God himself.”
(Vincent Cheung, Seek God Through His Blessings.)

Superbole1, responded, with:
“uh no. Jesus said that if you seek God’s will, He will answer. Meaning God is not a wish granter. Secondly, the author of this trash left out that God dislocated Jacob’s hip after blessing him, keeping Jacob reliant on God.”

“Superbole”? That’s a blend of “superlative” and “hyperbole.” Your name is the highest degree of rhetoric, where something is described as much more impressive than it is. Maybe when reading the Bible, try less exaggeration and more basic logic.

“If you seek God’s will”? You twist this to mean God is no wish-granting genie. That’s cute. However, if we’re going to rub the lamp, let’s rub it well and see what happens. Jesus in Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek first the kingdom and its righteousness, and all these things—blessings, provisions—will be added. It’s not “God’s will OR blessings”; it’s both, bundled like a cosmic care package.

Seeking God’s will includes His blessings. Seeking blessings from God includes seeking God. Seeking blessings from God is God’s will because it is obeying His command and walking in His definition of a Christian. You cannot seek God to bless you without seeking God.

Jacob wasn’t separating the Giver from the gift; he was grabbing the whole enchilada. However, Jacob’s goal was more basic. He was not seeking God to expand God’s kingdom, he was asking God to expand Jacob’s kingdom. He was not asking God to do God’s will on earth, but to do Jacob’s will on earth. He was not asking God to bless God’s plan; rather, he was asking God to bless Jacob’s plans on earth. God approved of this and blessed Jacob.

Jacob was not looking to be blessed by his self-effort or by going to worldly help. Jacob did not ask Satan or the pagan god Baal to bless him. No. He was asking God to do the blessing. Thus, even if Jacob was mostly self-seeking, it was still a packaged deal that sought God and glorified God. Even if you don’t want Satan in your life, if you ask Satan for money, you have sought Satan and established a relationship with and glorified Satan. The two cannot be separated. God approved of Jacob seeking his own plans and desires, not asking about God’s. By seeking Jacob’s plans and desires to be blessed, Jacob was also seeking God.

You frame the limp as God hurting Jacob to keep him “reliant,” like a divine pimp slap to prevent cockiness. Charming, but let us flip the scripture to the upright position and reread the text. The limp and blessing came at the break of day, after Jacob would not stop until he was blessed. If the limp was meant to crush aggressive seeking for blessings, why bless him? Do you see it yet? This is God marking a transformed man. This is God branding a person who sought a blessing. God gave Jacob His stamp of approval. Jacob enters as a schemer, exits with the relationship of “God’s Prince.” It’s not punishment. It is a fighter’s scar from winning the ultimate match. A badge of honor, a reminder of the encounter that elevated him to Israel, “a prince with God.” It didn’t diminish the blessing; it valued Jacob’s grit and faith.

Calling scripture-inspired insight trash? That’s the type of boldness that would make Satan blush in envy. Your view turns God into a stingy taskmaster, doling out only “will” without the thrill. No. That is not the bold faith we champion. Seeking our own blessings is like pizza; we all want it, and God calls it good. However, when you order pizza, you insist on just the box—sure, it still has God’s logo on it, but it misses the cheesy point entirely. Your empty pizza box is the real trash.

*Polished with a little help from Grok xAI, the AI sidekick who wrestles typos like Jacob wrestled God