"Surely the Lord is in this place--and I did not know it."

On Sunday, I preached on the text: Genesis 28:10-19.

Jacob fascinates me. His life is riddled with deception and lies. Here is a story of Jacob meeting God.

Some ideas that spoke to me:

- Jacob thought his plans came to fruition;
- Jacob was on the run;
- Jacob finds himself in the middle of nowhere;
- God meets with Jacob;
- Jacob's response: "Surely the LORD is in this place--and I did not know it!"

The Lord is in this place--and I did not know it.

The broken place, the unholy place, the darkness, the middle of nowhere, a rock for a pillow..."The Lord is in this place--and I did not know it.

God reveals, God spoke in a language that Jacob understood.

Of course Jacob was caught off-guard. He was afraid, but then a change in perspective:

"How awesome is this place! This is none other that the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven".

The place of pain, loneliness, despair, becomes for Jacob the gates of heaven.

And the rock for a pillow becomes a pillar, anointed as a beacon of remembrance.

This is not an attempt to tell anyone that they should look beyond the pain and find God.

Not at all. These thoughts just spoke to me, very profoundly.