Last month at St James Church, we explored the promises of God over Abraham and Jacob, two of the patriarchs written about in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. We also explored what those promises mean for us today.

Jacob was Abraham’s Grandson and he was on the run after deceiving his Father Isaac and stealing his brother’s blessing and he flees to Harran to escape his brother’s rage. This is a low point in Jacob’s life. As the sun goes down, I can imagine that Jacob feels isolated, perhaps exhausted and guilty, but also uncomfortable - sleeping on the ground with a stone for a pillow! Despite all of this, Jacob manages to sleep and he has a dream. He dreams of a stairway or ladder that reaches from earth to heaven and there are angels ascending and descending. A bridge between a Holy God and a broken world. And there at the top is the Lord and despite Jacob’s deceit, God does not condemn him, rather He reminds Jacob that He is the God of his Grandfather Abraham and his Father Isaac. Surely that must bring comfort to Jacob - that he is speaking to the God of his ancestors and the God that made promises to them. But maybe Jacob also doubts whether those blessings would be for him now because of the things that he has done.

And yet, God promises Jacob the land that he rests his head on and God promises countless descendants - like the dust of the earth stretching from the north to the south and the east to the west. What grace from God!

But again, there is more! The most important promise of all over Jacob - “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.”

Then Jacob wakes up and realises that God was there in that dark and desolate place and he is filled with holy fear. He names the place Bethel meaning ‘House of God’ and he places his stone pillow there like a holy pillar and anoints the stone with oil.

So what does this passage mean for us today? Well, firstly, God’s grace finds you in the dark. God meets us exactly where we’re at. He doesn’t wait for us to have everything in life sussed out. He meets us in the dark and lonely places, where we are worried or scared and we have run out of strength…even if we have contributed to the situation that we find ourselves in. God is the God of grace.

Secondly, just like the stairway that Jacob saw in his dream, Jesus promises that we have access to God the Father because of the cross and resurrection. We can access God at any time. Isn’t that wonderful?! There isn’t a time or situation that we can’t call out to God.

And thirdly, like Jacob we must recognise the ‘Bethel’ places in our own lives - those times of God providing for us, leading us, changing our hearts to believe. Recognising these times will help to anchor our faith when we face challenges again.

This is just one story of God’s story over generations. If you want to explore being part of His story or have questions, just pop along to a Sunday service - refreshments served from 9:45am for a 10:15 service.

Blessings,

Vikki