Surely the Lord Is in this Place

Several years ago in a Sunday school class I attended, we were studying the story of Jacob and his dream about the ladder to heaven. Our teacher Betty Chinnis began the class with a story. 

One day a young man was talking to his girlfriend. He said, “Last night, I had a dream about you.” Her interest was piqued and so she responded, “Oh, tell me about it.” The young man answered, “In my dream, I proposed to you. What do you suppose that means?” The girlfriend thought for a moment then replied, “It means – You have more sense when you’re asleep than you do when you are awake!”

In his early life, Jacob was a dishonest conniving character. But in his dream, he grasped something deeper. He saw a vision of the Holy and he heard God’s voice. In the dream, God extended the same promise and charge to Jacob as he had to Abraham and Isaac: “…all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you…”

When Jacob woke up he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it!”  

Our teacher Betty made the point that like the young man in the joke, “Jacob had more sense when he was asleep than he did when he was awake!”

Like Jacob, may you come to know that God is with you in this place. God is with you wherever you are in this moment – whether you are feeling full of joy and celebration, or full of heartache or worry, or stress. Today, may you pause long enough in God’s presence to hear his still small voice, “Know that I am with you. You have been blessed. And you are charged to be a blessing.”

Prayer: Amazing God, we thank you for your love that beckons us to grow, and for blessing us so that we might be a blessing to others. We also thank you that we do not walk alone. We trust that your grace is enough to sustain us and that your love is enough to compel us to more abundant life. Amen.