You will hear from clergy folks like Pastor John that God is graciously present all around us. We have stories that bear that out. But truth be told, we also have to admit that it’s often hard to recognize that presence and we ask “where is God?”
When we feel like we are in the wilderness, it is easy to wonder where God is. The biblical character Jacob is on the run, having been sent out on a journey across unfamiliar places. He finds himself out in the wilderness as the sun is going down, exhausted. He takes a rock for a pillow and falls asleep in a place he never wanted to be. He dreams of a ladder so big it rises from the earth to the heavens, and dreams of angels ascending and descending and he receives assurances of God’s presence. When Jacob wakes, he says, “Surely God is in this place . . . and I did not know it.” If you are feeling like you are in the wilderness and asking this question, we invite you to listen as John Hilley speaks (23 mins.) and Nate Strasser plays “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder.”
Tags: Howard Thurman/With Head and Heart; Luke Powery; Genesis 28:10-19/Artwork by John August Swanson “Dream of Jacob”