Finding God… When You Least Expect It
Genesis 28:10-19a
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba and started toward Haran. 11 At sunset he came to a holy place and camped there. He lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone. 12 He dreamed that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it. 13 And there was the Lord standing beside him. “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac,” he said. “I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying. 14 They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations.[c] 15 Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you.”
16 Jacob woke up and said, “The Lord is here! He is in this place, and I didn’t know it!” 17 He was afraid and said, “What a terrifying place this is! It must be the house of God; it must be the gate that opens into heaven.”
18 Jacob got up early next morning, took the stone that was under his head, and set it up as a memorial. Then he poured olive oil on it to dedicate it to God. 19 He named the place Bethel.
This place,
not a place of my choosing,
a part of a journey.
A place on the way
to find my future,
my inheritance,
a blessing,
not the one I stole.
Running
from the anger
and retribution
I deserve.
Here I rest my head,
enough for today.
And there is God,
standing beside me,
promising his blessing,
this place,
an abundant future
and his protection.
I thought this was just a place,
barren,
lonely,
just where I was
but now I discover
that God is here,
this is God’s place,
a holy place.
You will be my God
and I will worship you.
I place the foundations of my life here
in you.
Bless me Lord,
Bless us.
In this place,
here.
Where maybe I didn’t expect to find you,
in this place of running
and resting,
in the wilderness,
the barren place
that turns out to be a holy place.
May this be a place of beginning again
of true inheritance,
of discovering you,
of worship,
of foundation.
Of you.
I offer it to you
and pray that we may dwell here together.
Pam's Perambulation 