Genesis 28:16-17 New Living Translation
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” 17 But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Surely We Are Always Aware of the Presence of the Lord
Sometimes our most profound heart rending, soul shaking experiences of God’s presence unexpectedly occur within the most ordinary, least expected places of our lives – places and situations where we would never expect to find ourselves.
God always comes, comes amid the regular and routine, catching us unawares.
Like someone sneaking up behind you when you are so deep in thought and out of nowhere they tap you on the opposite shoulder and startled, you turn around.
You are shaken out of your own thoughts and from nowhere you were aware of, new thoughts of new things or new thoughts of old memories and old things are unceremoniously intruding into your waking, newly awakened, consciousness.
This is no truer than in the story of Jacob.
Jacob had an interesting life and truly one of the high points of his life with God is his vivid dream of a ladder upon which the angels of God ascend and descend.
Startled, afraid and wakened, now rising from his dream, before anything else is said or anything else is done, before anything or anyone else is acknowledged Jacob exults the presence of the Lord saying, “Surely the Lord is in this place!”
Immediately, He dedicates the spot to the Lord, builds an altar, and calls the place Bethel, meaning “The House of God, the very gateway to heaven!”
Bethel becomes a recurring place of divine encounter throughout the Scripture.
One has to question the particulars of this sacred moment – did Jacob simply “happen to” lie down in a “some” place, a place where heaven and earth touch?
Was his dream nothing more than blessed happenstance, a byproduct of resting near the “stairway of the heavens” which he professed acute unawareness of?
If we were all to read the scripture in this way, then we must then assume that Jacob has the dream simply because he happened to lie down in the correct spot.
The implication of this is clear; if we wish to have a similar occurrence we make our own way to our appropriate location which will be any location, anywhere.
God will then come to us if we to come to rest in the appropriate correct place.
But what does this mean?
No matter where we are at any given time, no matter why we are there in any given place at any given time, appropriate or inappropriate, what happens?
Life happens – unavoidably, unquestionably, undeniably, absolutely, Yes!
Meaning does God remain hidden behind secret doors and heavenly staircases?
Does our awareness of God, does an encounter with God simply boil down to our awareness of being in the right place at the right time – even if it’s by accident?
I believe that the vivid account of Jacob’s dream testifies to the exact opposite.
Jacob does nothing to bring about this dream, he is but a passive recipient.
At the time of this encounter, Jacob had just swindled his brother out of his inheritance and his rightful blessing.
What is more, both the divine blessing and family inheritance which Jacob stole did not lead to any measure of immediate satisfaction.
Instead, Jacob must contend with the murderous intent of his brother.
When Jacob lies down that evening, he is not desiring divine communication; he is running for his life, Jacob lies down to rest in a very ordinary and routine way.
Similarly, Scripture goes out of its way to describe the place of Jacob’s resting as “a certain place” (Genesis 28:11), not any place with special divine significance.
In fact, scripture records that the reason why Jacob lies down in that specific place is exactly because the sun had set and it was Jacob’s regular rest cycle.
The place of Jacob’s dream is a random location; it is ordinary and nondescript.
If Jacob had been quicker of thought, run more quickly or started his journey hours earlier, he’d have come to have rested in a place far from that location.
But the dream would have still happened because, in the end, the dream was not about the location where Jacob laid his head; it was about the presence of God.
The dream testified to the faithfulness of God’s presence, God’s gracious love toward Jacob, a love that is expressed despite his true duplicity and deception.
While we often title the dream “Jacob’s ladder,” we will hear “Jacob’s ladder,” preached point by point, the point of the dream isn’t about the ladder at all.
Even the angels slip into the background when Jacob awakes.
Instead, he rises with new awareness and new knowledge that God is with him.
The One who is faithful, the One who made him also faithfully will sustain him.
Faithfully, surely the Lord is in this place – surely this is the house of the Lord.
Intersecting Faith and Life
The Lord’s house is every place where the Lord lovingly dwells, and that is around us and within us.
Jesus promises to reside within the heart of those committed to him.
“Those who love me will keep my word,” Jesus says, “and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23).
Like Jacob, the one who created us also sustains us.
There is no place in our lives where we are outside God’s gracious presence.
This means that each morning, afternoon or evening, regardless of where or when we place our heads on a “pillow,” we rest within the presence of God.
Now, this ancient picture in the Old Testament is awesome, this picture of Jacob, on the run from Esau, meeting with God, dreaming of heavenly things versus dangerous “absolutely must be avoided” worldly things and people stuff.
But do we, here and now, in this moment, in whatever locations we all now find ourselves standing in, or trying to sleep our ways through, realize that this is the privilege that is no less awesome but that is 100% available to us every day.
Available to each of us all day long because of the work of Jesus on the cross?
Like because Jesus has died on the cross, rose from the grave, made a way for you and I to be forgiven of our sins and reconciled to relationship with God, you and I have the privilege of communion with God where ever we may be found.
Like meeting with God anytime, anywhere, all day long, every single day of life.
Just let that soak in.
Any time, anywhere, all day long – right now, we have the privilege of meeting with God, awakening our spirits, raising our awareness of God, the opportunity to fearfully, reverently exalt God – surely declaring Him to be 100% available
I have the privilege of meeting with God anywhere and at anytime, all the time.
Hear these comfortable words: Surely, the Lord is in this place.
Psalm 121 New King James Version
God the Help of Those Who Seek Him
A Song of Ascents.
121 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to [a]be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your [b]keeper;
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall [c]preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve[d] your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
Every moment of our life, we are surrounded by the gracious presence of God.
When we retire for the day or the evening, we 100% rest our body and soul in the protective arms of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
And when we rise, we waken to a day that will be lived in the context of God’s grace and mercy.
We may not experience the same kind divine dreams such as Jacob did, but the reality of God’s faithfulness and God’s presence is 100% assured just the same.
How awesome is our awareness, unawareness, of this awesome heavenly place?
This is an awesome place – every single one of us stands at the gate of heaven.
What shall we do now to raise our awareness of this awesome heavenly place?
Raise to new heights, “Neighbors” awareness of this awesome heavenly place?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
God, help us to realize how awesome this is, what Jacob was so overwhelmed by in Genesis 28:16–17 is an everyday privilege for us. When we think about even his words, “This is the house of God,” like we are your house. We are the temple of your Spirit. Our bodies are the temple of your Spirit. You dwell with us and within us, in all places and at all times. Everyday your presence with us just like you promised, Jesus, “I will be with you always.” “Until the end of the ages” That we are with you, that we have the privilege of max communion with you at any moment all day long.
God, lift us out of our spiritual slumber, help us to realize how awesome this is and help us to live in it. Help us to live in this awesome reality all day long. Lord, help us to pray without ceasing. Teach us to pray without ceasing. Teach us to walk and talk in full connection, communion with you, live all day long in communion with you.
Jesus, we thank you. Thank you for making this privilege possible. Lord, keep us we pray from being a prayer-less people when you’ve given us this privilege. Make us a praying people. Surely you are with us. Surely our bodies are a temple of your Spirit. How 100% awesome is this? We praise you and we pray all day long as we take full advantage of this awesome privilege. In Jesus’ most exalted name we pray, amen.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 