"Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 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. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it 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. 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. 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."
Genesis 28:10-15
Our world often demands productivity, efficiency, and immediate results. In all honesty, I like those things too. When God chose to speak with Jacob, it wasn’t when he was working his hardest, proving his successes, and producing an abundance of earthly crops. It was when he was resting.
Psalms 46:10 says, “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” From the beginning of time, God constructed our bodies and brains to require rest and sleep. Yet, we tend to run from it, avoid it, and be afraid of it. When Jacob stopped to rest, and in his slumber, God gave him one of the greatest promises— His presence.
As you walk through your day today, I wonder what it would look like to pause and notice God’s presence with you. Maybe one minute, maybe 10, maybe an hour. You are not alone; God is “with you and will watch over you whatever you go.”
