Jacob left quickly, traveling all day. When night came, he fell
asleep under
the stars, using a stone for a pillow. As he slept,
he had a dream
about a beautiful stairway that reached all the way from earth up
to heaven! Angels came up and down the stairs, and God said, "I am
the God of your fathers, and I
I will give you and your children the land that you lie upon. All
people will be blessed by you. I am with you, and will go with
you. And I will do all that I have promised."
Jacob woke up and said, "Surely God is in this place." And he made
a vow to God. Then he took the stone he had slept on and set it
upright to remember this special place.
God the Seeker
As Jacob slept, God spoke to him in a dream. There's no evidence that Jacob had not been looking for God; God initiated his contact with Jacob.
We tend to think that we're the ones who search for God but in reality he seeks us first. He draws us to him by speaking to our hearts and minds.
In Jacob's dream, God gave him a promise hat he would
be blessed like Abraha and Isaac were. God also promised to watch over Jacob back to his homeland. Although twenty years passed before Jacob returned, he did come back.
As we grow in our awareness of God's constant presence, we will walk more firmly on the path God had sent before us. We may fail to undderstand or obey God, but the One who walks beside us will never fall.
