The Holy Hiding in Ordinary Places | Jacob’s Dream

Hi, I'm Shawna Berg, director of children, youth, and family ministry here at St. Andrew Lutheran Church.

You know, sometimes the places we think are the end of the story become the places where God creates something new.

There is this fascinating story in Genesis about Jacob. Jacob has made a mess of things. After deceiving his brother, Esau, he is forced to flee. He's caught between a home he can't return to and a really unknown future. He is exhausted physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He drops into a deep sleep using a stone for a pillow.

In his dream, he sees this really massive staircase, and the angels are moving up and down it, moving between the ordinary places on earth and the holy spaces in heaven. I've always found this story fascinating — the reminder that the holy and the ordinary are just really intensely intertwined. That heaven is not just a distant future destination to escape to, but a reality that's pressing into our present moment.

In the story, when this happens, God speaks and offers this radical, unconditional promise of presence. You see, God doesn't issue a lecture for all the things that Jacob has done wrong. God doesn't demand an apology or require Jacob to clean up his act first. God just simply says, "I am with you."

When Jacob wakes up from this dream, he responds with wonder. He says, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I just didn't know it." He acknowledges his own blindness to the sacredness that was already surrounding him. You see, the wilderness didn't become holy when the dream started. It was already holy. Jacob just finally woke up to it.

God has this really scandalous habit of choosing deeply flawed people and unexpected, messy spaces to manifest love. The good news is you don't have to build a perfect life before God will meet you. God has always been the one crossing the distance to us.

Like Jacob, you might feel like you're in a nowhere space of transition, regret, or even loneliness. There are moments and places in our lives where heaven and earth seem just especially close. The Celtic Christians call those places thin places. And sometimes it isn't until we run out of our own strength that we finally notice that God has been present all along.

Jacob's story is one of belonging before becoming. Before Jacob changes, before he makes things right, before he has anything to offer, God says, "I am with you."

So this week, pay attention. Where have you experienced God's presence in ordinary places? We'd love to hear your story in the comments.

Have a great week.