Like a father sends a son off to
college, so Isaac blessed his son, Jacob and gave him final instructions before
sending him off into the unknown world. For the first time he was leaving his home,
his family and his comfort to travel into an unknown future. His first night on
the road he set up camp in an unfamiliar place and found a large stone to use
as his pillow for the night. Once asleep, Jacob had a dream in which the Lord
came to him and blessed him by passing on to him the covenant that He had made
with Abraham and Isaac. He then
promised Jacob that He would be with him wherever he would go, provide for his
needs and would bring him back to his home. What a comforting dream to have in
the middle of nowhere when everything before him seemed so uncertain. I wonder
if Jacob recalled the words of his father’s blessing when he awoke from his
dream?
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is
in this place, and I did not know it.” 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.”
Genesis
28:16-17
Jacob was in a bit of a crisis. He must
have been physically exhausted from his first day’s journey, but also
emotionally drained after saying goodbye to everything he had ever known. In the midst of his crisis God broke
through with His grace. The Lord always breaks into our lives at the point of
our need. It is only when we
recognize our need and are open to His provision that we will experience His
awe-inspiring grace. It was when
Jacob was asleep that the Lord came to him and spoke blessings over him. The Lord, in Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still
and know that I am God." After a night of stillness, the Lord came to Jacob in a
dream and when he awoke he declared that the Lord was with him. It took a crisis and stillness in order
to recognize God’s presence. In that moment an unfamiliar place became a very significant place.
I can so relate to Jacob. I remember
several times leaving a place of comfort, all that was familiar to begin a new
journey of unknowns. Going to
college as a young woman, moving across the country with my husband and
pregnant with my first child, and then recently finding myself in an empty nest
in Texas with both children living in California, are just a few of my crisis
moments. Each time though, the
Lord showed up! When the Lord
showed up in Jacob’s life, he constructed a memorial, as a way to remember
God’s intervention. His intervention changed an unfamiliar place into a significant place, because the Lord broke through there in his time of need. I have stacks of journals with memorials written in response to God working in and
through a crisis situation. He has
faithfully confirmed to me His presence, His provision, and His knack of
turning things around in my life.
It has been in those crisis moments in
unfamiliar places where I have been brought to my knees. Whenever I have cried out to the Lord,
He has graciously answered me with His grace. He has picked me up from huge stumbles, comforted me in my
loneliness, and redirected me when I was caught up in self-indulgences. Whenever I am tempted to go down the
path of self-pity and self-condemnation, I look around my house for memorials
that remind me of God’s faithfulness to break in to my need.
There is the printed plaque beside my
chair in our sun room that says, “what if we practiced courage every single
day?” which reminds me of a crisis moment when the Lord called me to care for
my mom as she battled cancer. God
showed up and gave me courage to do things beyond my ability. There is the nail in one of my journals
that is a memorial to when God showed up and rescued my son from a path of
deception and untruths. The nail
was found on my son’s bed the day I prayed and asked God to turn him back to
truth. It is a reminder that Jesus
was nailed to the Cross so that His truth would reign over and demolish the
lies and deception of the evil one. There is also a hammer that sits on my desk
with the words of Jeremiah 23:29, “Is not my word like fire, like a hammer that
breaks a rock in pieces.” This is
a memorial to the Lord to remind me of the day I committed to memorize
scripture for the rest of my life.
I committed to hide His word in my heart because I realized that I did
not have wisdom or strength of my own to make it through times of crisis. I need God to show up daily to confirm
His presence, His provision, and His wonderful way of turning the impossible
into the possible.
Thank you Lord for showing up in my times of crisis with your amazing grace. May I ever live to build memorials to you,
so that others will ask, “What is that for?” I will be quick to respond, “That is a reminder of how God
broke into my life at my point of need with His grace.”
Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and
instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown (a memorial), for an everlasting
sign, which will not be destroyed. Isaiah 55:13
Build a memorial today and
be reminded of God breaking through in your life. If you are in a time of desperate need or crisis, then be
still before the Lord and anticipate His arrival. He will show up.
By His Grace,
Nancy
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