• Read Genesis 28

MORNING— Surely the Lord is in This Place

• Focal Passage: Genesis 28:16

“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”

Jacob did not leave home under noble circumstances. He was not heading out on a great adventure fueled by courage or faith. He was running. Running from the consequences of his own deception. Running from a brother who wanted him dead. Escaping with just the clothes on his back and his staff in his hand.

Probably not how he pictured leaving home.

When Jacob finally stops for the night, there is no indication that he believes in the God of Abraham and Isaac in any personal way. He knows the language. He knows the stories. But faith, at this point, still belongs to his parents. Jacob is living off borrowed belief.

He lays his head on a stone, falls asleep in the open country, and it is there—at his lowest, loneliest moment—that God shows up.

Jacob dreams of a ladder set on the earth, its top reaching to heaven. Angels ascend and descend. And above it all stands the Lord, who speaks promises Jacob has done nothing to earn. Land. Descendants. Blessing. Presence. The same promises given to Abraham and Isaac are now spoken directly to Jacob.

Jacob’s reaction when he wakes?

“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”

Jacob doesn’t say, “I finally found God.”
He says, “God was already here.”

In our wanderings, when we feel so far away from our Maker, wherever it is we lay our head, in a 5 star hotel or in an alleyway–God is already present.

Like Jacob’s experience, God meets us first—before awareness, before belief, before response.

This is often how God works.

We assume God shows up when we are spiritually alert, morally strong, or faithfully consistent. But Scripture repeatedly shows us a God who meets people when they are exhausted, confused, running, or unaware.

Jacob slept on a stone that night, but he awoke on holy ground.

• Reflection:
  Where might God already be present in your life—even if you haven’t fully recognized it yet?

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EVENING— Grace Before Growth

• Focal Passage: Genesis 28: 15

“Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go… for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Jacob’s awakening is sincere—but his response is immature.

He sets up the stone as a pillar, pours oil on it, names the place Bethel (“house of God”), and then promptly begins negotiating with God.

“If God will be with me…
If He will keep me…
If He will give me food and clothing…
If I return safely…”

Then—then—the Lord will be his God.

It’s hard not to wince at that.

God has just made unconditional promises, and Jacob responds with conditions. He tries to turn grace into a contract. He treats God the same way he treated Esau—bargaining, calculating, protecting his own interests.

Yet here is the astonishing part of the story:

God does not withdraw.

He does not revise the promise.
He does not correct Jacob mid-vow.
He does not say, “Come back when your faith matures.”

God simply lets Jacob move forward—still under promise.

This is grace.

Jacob’s faith is real, but it is small. It is mixed with pride, fear, and self-interest. And yet God remains faithful—not because Jacob understands Him correctly, but because God is faithful to His own word.

Years later, Jesus would speak to Nathanael and deliberately echo this moment:

“You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:51)

Jacob was in no shape to climb this ladder (contrary to the children’s song “Climbing Jacob’s Ladder” neither or we.) Jesus doesn’t even say He will climb this ladder.
He declares that He is the ladder.

The connection between heaven and earth is not a structure, a ritual, or a moral achievement. It is a Person. Grace does not come because we ascend—it comes because God gives Himself.

Jacob received grace before his faith grew strong.
We receive grace the same way.

The good news of Scripture is not that God waits for us to get it right—but that He stays with us because Christ has made us right with the Father.

• Reflection:
  Where might God be inviting you to stop bargaining and start trusting His promise?

• Closing Prayer

Faithful God, Thank You for meeting us before we know You well
and staying with us while our faith grows.  Teach us to trust Your presence,
rest in Your grace, and walk forward—not by bargaining, but by believing.
Amen.