Now
Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain
place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of
the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place
to sleep. . . . And he called the name
of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously (Genesis 28:10,11, 19).
Jacob was the primary heir of a wealthy
family, but instead of buying food and lodging in the city of Luz, he slept
alone in the woods. Esau was the hunter;
Jacob didn’t ENJOY sleeping outside. He
liked tents and red lentil stew, and beds.
At his campsite, Jacob didn’t lay his head on
his extra blanket, or use the bundle of clothes he’d packed as a pillow. Instead he pushed over a rock formation tall
enough to be used as a pillar (Genesis 28:2), and slept with his head propped
on the thin end of a weird looking boulder.
Why?
Avoiding town indicates that Jacob was afraid
the townspeople would murder him and take his money. Sleeping on a rock implies that Jacob didn’t
pack an extra blanket or a change of clothes. Jacob was afraid, alone, and absolutely unprepared for his situation.
He couldn’t go home because his brother was
waiting to kill him. He couldn’t stay
where he was because he thought the people there would kill him. And given his lack of wilderness survival
skills he’d probably die before he got anywhere near Uncle Laban’s house in
Syria. Good night.
God had a great plan for Jacob since before
he was born, but sometimes we can’t see the vision or hear the plan until we’re
sitting in the empty silence of desperation.
Away from Mama’s tents and beyond the influence of Daddy’s money, Jacob
was able to hear and see clearly.
In a dream, God showed Jacob that he was not
and had never been alone. Angels were
busy doing God’s will on the earth (Genesis 28: 12). Heaven knew what he was going through, and
God cared.
All his parents’ talk of greatness and
promises was real, but Jacob wasn’t an extension of other people’s dreams. He was the one God had chosen.
Many of you have been told who you are
supposed to be by loving, well-intentioned parents and mentors, and they may
(or may nor) have been right, but if you
don’t have a clear vision of yourself for yourself, you will be insecure in
your self and ill prepared for your future.
Many times when I was a child, elders in the
church declared, “That boy’s gonna be a preacher someday.” That boy (me) didn’t see it. The prophetic accuracy of the elders’
assessment didn’t get me into the pulpit.
God had to show me my calling for myself.
The vision has to become YOUR vision. Only then can you live it out.
Jacob woke and began working the kinks out of
his neck. He lifted his stone pillow
into a stone pillar and anointed it with oil.
When you take ownership of the vision, the things you slept on become
landmarks you raise up (verse 18).
When the vision becomes YOUR vision, your present ceases to be the city of fear. You realize your authority to transform the
present city of fear into the place where God is (verse 19).
Jacob’s path followed the direction his
parents had prescribed, but he left Bethel different from how he’d
arrived. He’d arrived fleeing Esau and
trying to please Mother Rebekah. He left
pursuing his calling. He’d arrived
responding to others. He left
responsible for himself.
Then
Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that
I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come
back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. And
this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that
You give me I will surely give a tenth to You”
(Genesis 28:20-22).
Jacob realized that to walk in the vision, he
had to walk in the faith.
God has a vision for you personally. To fully realize it, you need to know the
Lord, personally.
See it.
Wake to it. Walk in it. Walk in it by faith.
---Anderson T.
Graves II is a
writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural
leadership development.
Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles
Chapel CME Church in
Fairfield, Alabama; executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth
Networking Organization (SAYNO);
and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for
Human Development (NIHD).
Subscribe to my personal blog www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
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P O Box 132
Fairfield, Al 35064
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