Always There

I love the stories of the Bible. I grew up on them yet am always amazed by how they can continue to speak to me and teach me deeper things.

One such story is that of Jacob in the Old Testament. I was recently reading again the account of the dream that he had – the “Jacob’s Ladder” story (Gen 28:10-22).

Jacob was en-route to his uncle’s place out of necessity. He had deceived his father and his brother and was in a very real sense running for his life. As he lay down to sleep one night he had a dream of a stairway reaching from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending. In the dream, God spoke to Jacob with a promise of blessing and a promise of presence.

On awakening, Jacob makes this statement: “Surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it.” (vs16)

To be where God is present and to be unaware…seems sad, even tragic…and yet…

I’ve been there. Have you? Those times when the “Where were you God?” and “Where are you God?” questions fall so easily from our lips and we doubt or forget that He is present.

At this point in scripture, God is not yet described as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob but rather as the God of Abraham and Isaac. Jacob had a long road ahead of him, a journey to discover for himself the faithfulness of God.

Many years later, David asked “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (Psa 139:7) In the following verses he answered his own question. Nowhere. There isn’t a place to flee from his presence.

We turn to the New Testament and read these words:  “I am with you always...” (Matt 28:20b)

Then there is also the reminder that on his return to heaven, Jesus would send Holy Spirit to be present with us. Always with us. (John 14)

These are truths to know and to cling to because the reality is that although God is always present, always with me, I will not always feel it. Sometimes God is silent. Sometimes I am not paying attention.

When those times come, I need to trust in the truth of God’s Word and the faithfulness of his promise…in the faithfulness of God himself.

Immanuel…God with us…this is not just a poetic line for reciting at Christmas time. It is truth…enduring, unchanging and real. A truth that I can know and stand firm in when what I see obscures it and when what I feel denies it.

Jacob, while on a journey that would lead to the God of his father and grandfather becoming the God that he would not let go, discovered that God was indeed with him.

Where are you on that journey? Be assured that even if God is present and you do not know it, he is present. Like Jacob, don’t let go.

Ruth U