I Felt Alone At The Time

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” Genesis 28:15-16

Jacob had a dream, and in it, the Lord spoke to him to confirm that the covenant promise He had made with his father and grandfather was also his. How merciful God was considering what Jacob had done to trick his father into giving him the blessing of the firstborn.

Jacob awoke and his response is something I have personally discovered about some past and painful events. “Now I see that God was there but I didn’t know it!  I thought I was alone.  Abandoned.  But I was wrong.”

It’s so humbling when I realize that God was there all along. Hindsight and additional information, along with God-given intuition, confirm it. Accusations I made against Him come back to haunt me and I come to understand that I was faithless and unfair. I apologize to my Father because I finally see how His Spirit preserved me in the flames to keep my faith alive.

If you are in a crushing place and you fear that God is not around, it’s not true. Proclaim Jacob’s words out loud. “Surely the Lord is in this place though I do not know it.” If these trials seem to you to be wasted, even senseless, that’s also untrue.

What is true is that you are in the middle of the plotline, and your vision is obscured. Objectivity is hard to find and subjectivity, along with its turmoil, begs to write reality.  My friend, redemption has just not happened yet. We must not allow pain to define us and live as though it’s the end of the story.  Tragedy will never be the end of our narrative.

I am often blind to Your presence but I do not throw my faith away. I choose to trust You even when I can’t see You. Amen