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“Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place; and I did not know it.’” Gen. 28:16).
This story of Jacob represents a profound moment in ancient Hebrew history, and in ours. Jacob, fleeing the wrath of his brother, Esau, was in a distant region when he had a dream that angels ascended and descended a ladder. Above the ladder, the Lord stood. Jacob had thought, like all his contemporaries, that he had left the presence of God who was considered to be a localized deity. In his dream he realized that God was even in this distant land.
Jacob drew great strength from this revelation, and he made this covenant with God: “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, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that thou givest me I will give the tenth to thee.” He entrusted himself fully, including his finances, to the guidance and all-supplying power of God.
Omnipresence must become more to us than a concept; it must become a living revelation. Right now, you are in the presence of God. You will not get there in the next fifteen minutes, or with the resolution of your current problem, or when you get that new job, or find that right person. You are here, fully in the presence of God right now!
You and I can follow Jacob’s example by fully committing ourselves to what it means to be in the presence of God. We can trust that God is guiding us, supplying all our needs because we are fully relying upon the wisdom and intelligence, the love and the prospering power that is within us and all about us.
Like Jacob, awaken from your sleep and make a vow to commit your whole being to God. See God guiding every step you take, moving through every deal you make, and drawing to you everything you need to take your next successful step. In return, see all that you have as God’s. See yourself, your finances, all your affairs as God’s and you will, like Jacob, prosper beyond your wildest dreams.
J Douglas Bottorff 