Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, “God is in this place—truly. And I didn’t even know it! Genesis 28:16 (MSG)

In The Middle – Jacob Series – Part 4

Go to PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3  |  PART 4  |  PART 5  |  PART 6  |  PART 7

In the middle of Jacob's “run for his life from his brother” season, on his own, all alone, off to a land he did not know, after stealing said brother's birthright, he fell asleep on some rocks and had a dream that started to change everything for him.

The story is recorded in Genesis 28. Jacob dreamed that a stairway connected heaven to earth, and Angels traveled up and down them. Verse 13-15 says that “God was right before him, saying, “I am God, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I’m giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they’ll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants. Yes. I’ll stay with you, I’ll protect you wherever you go, and I’ll bring you back to this very ground. I’ll stick with you until I’ve done everything I promised you.”

Great words to hear, right? But they’re not the words I want to focus on. What Jacob said next is one of my favorite passages in all the scriptures, and I think it encapsulates that supernatural, mystical, “wake up” moment that many of us have experienced.

Verse 16 says, “Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, “God is in this place—truly. And I didn’t even know it!”

Did God suddenly turn up? Or, was he always there and Jacob just didn’t know it? Was he being specific, as in the very spot that Jacob slept was the place where God resided? Or is he here, right now, in the midst of this world, a stairway, a connection, a lifeline to the mystery that bubbles just beneath the surface of our material reality?

While he was running for his life, perhaps in the middle of the most intense moments of his identity crisis, Jacob came face to face with the presence of the Divine.

The best medicine for a failing sense of self and an identity that is barely holding together is presence. The presence of God, and presence of self. In fact, I don’t think you can extrapolate one from the other. When you find yourself in the presence of God – and more than that, that it was there all along, with you and in you – you also come face to face with your true self. The self that you are when there are no labels, no misunderstandings, no outstanding notices of wrongdoings or betrayals, where there are no performance tallies and success write-ups… just you and God. This is where true joy begins. (Ps 16:11) And those identity crisis fractures and breaks that riddle our lives, begin to heal.

Presence.

Don’t think church service worship presence (only). God was present to Jacob in the middle of the wilderness with no one else around. Jacob hadn’t done anything to deserve it, conjure it up, or cause it to manifest. In fact, he was on the run after deceiving his father and stealing from his brother. God is present. Full stop. The question is, are we aware of it?

I don’t know how many times I’ve said, “God is here, and I didn’t even realise until now!”

It’s often pain, heartache, tragedy, crisis, a moment of self-realisation, and rock-bottom seasons where we find God. We often find him in the darkest parts of our lives, and I’m so grateful for it. There’s something about being on the edge of life that makes us vulnerable to his presence. That's why Paul could say that God manifested strength within his weakness.

Are you in the middle of a crisis of identity? Are you in between a rock and a hard place? (or sleeping on rock like Jacob?) Perhaps God is right there you. Perhaps he always has been.

Richard Rohr says, “In solitude, at last, we’re able to let God define us the way we are always supposed to be defined—by relationship: the I-thou relationship, in relation to a Presence that demands nothing of us but presence itself. Not performance but presence.”

Did you notice God present with you all along? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Go to Part 5 – Wrestled and Won »

[vcex_image_grid columns=”3″ pagination=”false” thumbnail_link=”custom_link” link_title_tag=”true” custom_links_target=”_blank” overlay_style=”title-category-visible” columns_gap=”5″ img_hover_style=”fade-out” image_ids=”20934,20935,20937″ custom_links=”https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1239768002?pt=118656308&ct=blog%20footer&mt=8,https://www.pktfuel.com/dailyemail,https://www.pktfuel.com/support” img_height=”350″]