Stairway to Heaven
"Truly, the LORD is in this spot, although I did not know it!"
How often do we find ourselves in the same position as Jacob? On holy ground and, yet, totally unaware? Jacob, heading off to find love, forgets to remember. How often do we do the same? In our search for all sorts of love, how often do we forget to remember God? How often do we fail to abide?
God is standing right next to Jacob. Right next to him! And Jacob has no idea. God is waiting to offer Jacob a blessing and, with it, a promise - a promise of friendship, a promise of protection, a promise of abundance, a promise of home, a promise of His presence. And Jacob has no freaking clue.
How often are we like that? How often is that you?
WHILE GOD STANDS BESIDE YOU,
Offering blessing. Offering security. Offering home.
How often are you completely unaware?
For most of us, the answer is too often.
Too often we are totally unaware of God’s presence in the room.
Too often, we forget to remember Him. And yet, He never forgets to remember us.
At every moment He is beside you. At every moment He is rooting for you. At every moment, He strives for intimacy with you. He stands at the door and knocks (Revelation 3:20). He waits on high to have compassion on you (Isaiah 30:18b). He creates a stairway to Heaven. God, in His love and mercy, shows Jacob a stairway to Heaven. And He does the same for you.
Just imagine what that stairway must look like. It must be glorious. But do you notice? Do you watch for God’s messengers?
Do you look for every stairway to Heaven that God offers for you?
In the busyness of your day, do you pause to connect with Him? In the middle of your conversations, do you invite Him in? At a mundane moment of your work meeting, do you seek out the extraordinary?
Do you choose to notice Him in the small details of your life?
Or only at mass? Or only in your designated prayer time? Or when it’s convenient? Or when you’ve scheduled Him in?
It comes down to this:
Is God a box you check or a person you love?
Unless God is a person we love, it’s really hard to remember Him. Because we look for people we love. If we love Him, we’ll start to see Him in everything.
Have you ever liked a guy so much that you start to see his car everywhere? I have. Loads of times. It’s embarrassing because this plagues me anytime I like a guy. Back in high school, it was a purple Geo. Purple Geo’s are not common, but oh man, when my crush had one, they cropped up all the time. I searched for this Geo. I could name all the people in my town that had one. I would crane my neck any time I thought I glimpsed a purple car. When I left the house, I was on high alert for a purple Geo and the boy it carried. I was on the lookout for a guy I really wanted to love.
Because we look for people we love.
We look for GOD when we love Him.
Do you look for God the way I looked for that purple Geo? Are you on high alert for His presence? For His blessings? For the Holy Spirit? Do you crane your neck? Do you hope against hope that He’ll be where you are? Do you carry that hopeful, young-love feeling towards Him?
Because He carries young love for you.
His mercies are new every morning. His love is everlasting and fresh every day. He sees your very best, like young-love on steroids. He sees all of you and delights in His creation. He is always ready to give more of Himself to you. He is already waiting to pour out blessings on your everyday.
So look for Him!
Look for Him whom your heart, your soul loves (Song of Songs 3:4)! See the great blessings, the great promises He wants to bestow! Let Him show you all He has in store for you.
Father,
We’re sorry for all of the times we get distracted by our own plans. We’re sorry for the times we run off to find love, like Jacob, and miss you along the way. Please open our eyes. Show us Your stairway to Heaven. Show us Your presence in the everyday. Help us to see You beside us at every moment. Help us to crane our heads looking for You more than anyone else.
Father, we love You. We really do love You. Teach us how to love You more. Teach us how to build our lives around You. Show us the way to Your heart.
