Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway [d] resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it [e] stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." 17 He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven." (Genesis 28:11-17)
Last time we saw Jacob, he was running for his life from his brother Esau from whom he had just swindled his life's inheritance. His father Isaac quickly blessed him and sent him on his way. Its interesting to note, however, that Isaac never said anything to chastise Jacob about what he had done. Jacob takes off to where his mother grew up. When he lay down to sleep, in the midst of his broken heartedness, he has a dream, more correctly, a vision of God. He sees a tall ladder reaching up into heaven with angelic creatures climbing up and down on it. Here, God speaks to Jacob, and renews the covenant promises he had made to his father and grandfather. You can almost picture how overwhelmed Jacob is as he realizes where he has been, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it." (v.16).
This is usually how God catches up with the busy person. Its not that God was never there before, but it is the place where one realizes God has been there with them the whole time and they were just too busy or otherwise occupied to notice. This place was so significant to Jacob and so reassuring. Why would God pay a personal visit to a man who thought he would be dead soon? It brought wonderful relief to him to know that God had a greater plan for Jacob's life than being a man on the run.
Perhaps you too are on the run, or so busy you take little notice of God and what He is doing for you. It usually takes a crisis to bring us to our knees or to cause us to look up. Perhaps it would be better not to wait until this happens, because these crises are often painful. You don't have to wait until then. You can open your eyes right now and know of His touch and presence all around you. He is there!
Have a blessed day!
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