Surely the Lord is in This Place

I love the story found in Genesis 28:10-19 of Jacob’s ladder, of Jacob’s dream, of God’s presence with Jacob, with us, whether we know it or not. To summarize, Jacob is travelling through the desert on what turns out to be a “vision quest,” when he finds a campsite and settles in for the night. He finds a comfortable stone and puts under his head for a pillow and settles in for the night.

And then the fun begins. Jacob dreams. He dreams that there is a ladder reaching from the earth on which he lays to heaven, and that the angels of God are ascending and descending: from earth to heaven and from heaven to earth. And then God is standing beside him and speaks. “I am the Lord, God of Abraham your father and Isaac, and the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.” And, by the way, “all the families of the Earth will be blessed in you and your offspring.” Just for a moment, put yourself in Jacob’s place and imagine your reaction had this vision, this dream come to you.

The dream continues, the conversation with God then continues with a promise, as these conversations often do. “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land.” And then comes God’s ultimate promise to Jacob, and really, to us as well: “for I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.” “Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it. This is the house of God, the gate of heaven.’

“Surely the Lord is in this Place!” This is God’s message to us today as well. And, like Jacob, we often to not know it, we often do not recognize God’s presence, even though we have spent most of our lives looking for God: at least most of our lives, off and on, looking for God. Often on our journey we give up, we doubt, we tire, and if we are lucky or blessed or both, we try again.

Also, like Jacob, we find that God was always here, wherever here is! Remember the account of Jesus’ resurrection in Mark 16:6? The women arrive at to grave to find the stone rolled away, Jesus missing and a young man sitting there. He says to them, “Do not be alarmed, you look for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised, he is not here. Look at the place they laid him. But go, tell the disciples and Peter, he is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”

So, wherever your there is, wherever your Galilee is, God will be in that place. And he will be there ahead of you. So that place where you and I go, where we are, will be, as it was for Jacob, the House of God, the Gate of Heaven. And, if we live in the house of God, if we live at the Gate of heaven, it is important for us to remember two things: “Thy kingdom come, they will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.” And, “God will not leave us until he has done what he promised us.”

And what has God promise us? He has promised us abundant life, to be with us always, to give us the words to say when we are brought up before councils (when we live as Jesus calls us to live). And last but certainly not least, “that all the families of the Earth will be blessed through us and our offspring.”

Knowing this, then how shall we live? We live by loving the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves. We live by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and welcoming the stranger. We live like Jesus lived.

Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.
I can feel His mighty power and His grace.
I can hear the brush of angel's wings,
I see glory on each face.
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.

(Song by Lanny Wolfe, 1977)