Key scripture – “Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.” (Genesis 28:1-5).

Jacob’s name means “cheater, supplanter, or deceiver,” however, this is who God will use to be the father of twelve sons who will be the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob is about to go on a 500 mile journey alone through a bad area.

First we learn that; God is at work even when the path is tough. God’s focus on Jacob was not what He was going to do through Jacob but what He was going to do IN Jacob. Can’t you just hear Jacob as he started the journey as he was walking along the road he was probably mumbling and thinking, “This girl better be worth it because this is a lonely, long, hot journey.”

We need to embrace the fact that God is working in us when the road is rough and challenging. God forgive us for the times we have said with a harsh disgusted attitude, “How could God be in this? This is way to hard.” Is that what you think? Have you decided that difficult circumstances prove God isn’t working? Well the Bible goes out of its way over and over to say just the opposite; difficult circumstances are not God pulling back from you, but rather many times, God is drawing toward you to embrace and grow you. Notice how the text continues in verse 11: “And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.” The word “place” is used three times in that verse. By now, Jacob had traveled about 50 miles and he stopped in the same location where Abraham, his grandfather, had offered sacrifices and worshipped God 150 years earlier.

Second thing we learn: God is at work even when the road is tedious. Day after day, walking in the hot sun, doing what God commanded, feeling the weight of obedience, thinking God was real far away, Jacob was ready for another lesson: God is at work even when the place I find myself in is wearisome.

In that culture it was very dangerous to be out overnight, but Jacob lay down to sleep in an open field. I’m sure Jacob did not realize that God had ordered his very steps to the place where his grandfather had worshipped. Psalm 27:33 says, “The steps of a man are established by The Lord.” Jacob didn’t know it but God was ordering his journey. How many times do we face some tedious regularity and think, “Well, God’s not in this.” Jacob has no obvious clues that God was anywhere in that hot lonely place but God was very much there.

What tedium in your life are you facing and trying to figure out where God is? God is in your home, your work, even if it seems regular, He is there. God forgive us for thinking that if You are not showing up in some flashy, phenomenal way that You are not there ordering our steps. God is at work even when the place we are in is tedious. God is at work even when I’m not paying attention.

Third thing we learn: God is at work when He is the furthest thing from my mind. Notice what Jacob did at the end of verse 11: “Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.” Amazingly, one of the rocks he choose was what his grandfather used to erect an altar for worship and sacrifice to The Lord, but Jacob does not know it at this point.

Did Jacob feel blessed about having to use a rock for a pillow, probably not. He probably wasn’t even thinking about God and he had no idea God was about to show up in an incredible way. Notice what it says in verse 12: “And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!” What did Jacob see? Well very clearly in Scripture we are told that, angels are messengers on a mission. They are like the manufacture’s rep for God. They speak for God. Hebrews 1:14 says, “Are they not ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” If you have accepted Christ as you Savior, you have inherited salvation, so the angels are sent out for you.

Someday we will see all the work done by these angelic messengers. In fact, the Bible says in Hebrews that we’ve even entertained or been in conversation with angels without knowing it. God gave Jacob an incredible picture of the traffic of angels going up and down the stairs just in that one place. Jacob got to see the spiritual realm between earth and Heaven. Which shows that even when we are not thinking about God, He keeps marching out His plan.

What God Does: He reminds me of His promises. Above the angels, at the top of the ladder, at the entrance to Heaven was The Lord Himself. Genesis 28:13 says, “behold, there was a ladder” and “behold the angels of God” and the really amazing sight, “And behold, The Lord stood above it.” In Jacob’s dream, he is essentially saying, “Wow, a ladder to Heaven! Wow, angels! And Wow, The Lord Himself!”

The text makes the point, The Lord “stood”. This is one of the few places in scripture where we see The Lord standing. Almost everywhere we see God in scripture He is sitting down. And do you know why? Because He can. He is ruling the universe with His feet up! He is not stressed out or freaked out. He is not pacing back and forth. He is the King! And He is ruling!

There are a few instances like Amos 9:1 and Isaiah 3:13 that describe God standing in awesome judgment, but the rest of the time, when God does stand, He is reaching out to you and me for relationship. That is what brings God off the throne, is relationship. Here in Genesis 28:14, He stands for Jacob, reaching out to Him and communicating His promises: “And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.”

What is God saying? He is saying, “I will never change. Do you remember what I was like for your grandfather? Do you remember how I proved Myself true? I am still just like that. And think about your father Isaac, and My faithfulness to him, I haven’t changed.” Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” He never changes. But how often do we say, “Oh God may have done that some time ago but He is not doing anything now.” God forgive us for being what-have-You-done-for-me-lately Christians. God is still the same and He is still working. Can you tell of a time in your life when God incredibly answered prayer in your life, opened your eyes, gave you direction, comforted and encouraged you, and gave you victory? Well, He is doing the same thing right now.

So far Jacob has been promised that God will never change, He will have a place, and now God promises that He will bless Jacob’s family in verse 14; “Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” We all need to remember when we don’t see God working He may be doing something in your life or for your family that is not about you. It might be about your son or daughter or grand kids. It might be about someone two or three generations down the road that you will never meet. But they will know you and the kind of life you led and how you loved The Lord. You say, “But I gotta see my son change now.” No, no, listen: God is at work. Even when you don’t see what God is doing, He is at work. As God promised Jacob, “I will bless your family.”

The promise continues in verse 15 but the tone changes just slightly to the immediate situation: “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” God assures Jacob of His presence now and until the job is done. This is so fabulous, the fact that GOD IS WITH US ALL THE TIME! God assures us of His presence and God is all about keeping His promises. He always, always, always keeps His promises.

I know you may be painfully waiting on God for some promises He has made. You’re like, “God when are you going to do this stuff?” Listen He is working. Stop looking at what you see and walk by faith. He is at work, even when we are not seeing it.

I want to conclude with these encouraging verses. Look at verse 16: “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” God brings us, just like He brought Jacob, to a place of worship. You are probably thinking, “How does He do that?” First, by confession – eliminating the wrong. It always starts there with confession, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” Jacob is admitting he was wrong. He is saying, “I was wrong, I thought God was not here, and He was.” That is where it starts. Notice how he goes on in verse 17: “And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Jacob was afraid, as we often are, when God reveals what He is really doing. We see how BIG God is, and how small we are.

Worship starts with confession. If you don’t understand that all the distance between you and God is the result of sin, then you have a really narrow understanding of what sin is. You may be thinking of sin as just being the wrongs that you have done. But sin is also good left undone. James 4:17 says,”So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

Is spending time alone with God, seeking him in His Word, is that good? Yes, it is. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” (See Romans 10:17). And if you don’t do that, is there distance between you and God? Yes. And seeking Him in prayer, is that good? Yes. And if you don’t do that, is there distance between you and God? Yes. You might want to label it discouragement or depression or whatever you want, but if you know to do good and do not do it, it is sin. Furthermore, Romans 14:23 says, “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” And because God always shows up in a heart swelling with faith, if I am lacking in the choice of faith, not exercising my belief toward the Word of God, then God will seem very distant to me.

When you call sin what it really is and confess it and admit the problem is me, not God, then God moves in. God is not the one who left, we did.

Jacob made a covenant with God in response to God’s covenant with him in verses 18-21: “So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.” We need to be like Jacob and make a covenant saying, “My life is going to be about God, about following The Lord.” In our lives we need to come back again and again to this covenant with God. You may think, “Well, I’ve been to the cross. I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. My sins have been forgiven.” Listen, go back again and again and renew the covenant by saying, “I belong to God.”

After confession and covenant comes consecration. Notice verse 22: “And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.” Jacob is saying, “God everything I have is Yours and every time You give something to me, I will give a tenth back to You, so You’ll know I did not forget that everything is Yours.” God will honor consecration in our lives, which is our dedication to the service and worship of God. We need to give back to God what is His.

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, I confess that sometimes I have judged You harshly and I have thought things about You that are not true. Forgive me for having to have emotional thrills and things to look at in order to believe that You are with me, and instead teach me what it means to live not by sight, but by faith. Help me to walk by faith and stand strong. I also want to make and renew a covenant with You today. I want to tell You again, I am Yours. I belong to You. All that I have is Yours, my family, my future, my job, and my life. I want to live for You, and stand for You. Help me to always remember You are at work even when I do not see it. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.