In Genesis 28 we find the story of Jacob fleeing from a difficult family situation. He is somewhere between Beersheba and Haran. Having gained Esau's birthright, he has been sent by his mother Rachel to live for a season with Uncle Laban in Haran. The Bible says that he came to a "certain place". It was a place of uncertainty, a place of pain because of the past, and fear because of the future. It was a hard place. It was also a place of launching out, as he was on his own for the first time.
In this place of uncertainty and difficulty, this "certain place", Jacob received a revelation from God. And the place of uncertainty became a place of enlargement, of expansion, a launching place. All he had ever known were Isaac's tents, but in a vision God reveals to him his true inheritance. He speaks to him of expanded boundaries and multiplied descendants.
Sometimes we find ourselves in this "certain place"...somewhere between the mess we have made of things and the future that God has for us. It is an awkward place and a very uncomfortable place. Sometimes it is a painful place.
In the scriptures, God reveals Himself to Jacob and he sees a ladder or stairway stretched between heaven and earth, with angels ascending and descending. If we study this in the context of New Testament fulfillment, what Jacob was being shown was the glory of Christ, the mediator between heaven and earth. And Jacob came away with these words on his lips, "This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven!"
Now Jacob had spent the night sleeping with his head elevated on one of the stones that were abundant in that place. The scene reflects to us the difficulty of the situation. When you are in that place, that "certain place", even sleep comes with difficulty and even your pillow is a place of harsh repose. It seems that there is no rest. Maybe today you are in that place. It is a place of fear and uncertainty. Perhaps you've made a mess of things. Or maybe you are just in a place of great apprehension concerning the future. But you're in a wilderness and a stone is your pillow.
The Word of God is so wonderful in that no detail is spared, so that we may receive wonderful glimpses of the truths that Christ has for us. Though Jacob spent the night with His head on a rock, when he received the revelation of Christ it changed everything. He knew that God was with him and that he stood at the very gate of Heaven.
Listen to what the Bible says his response was:
"Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 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.”
Jacob arose and took that thing which had been hard...that thing which represented his fretful night and his harsh environment, and he turned it into something else. He stood the rock upright and called it an altar. And he anointed the rock with oil, and made a vow to God.
What a word for us today! Is this not the very thing which determines our victory? Is this not the very key to coming through the place of difficulty with a testimony of the grace of God? To take our place of difficulty, our hard place, and make it an altar to God? To take the hard place and pour oil upon it? To call upon the Holy Spirit of God in that place and declare our desire to be faithful to God?
Once we have seen the glory of Christ...Once we have been touched by the revelation of the Almighty, and experienced His grace...then we can transform that place of sorrow and worry into an anointed place from which we will experience the expansion of boundaries and the provision of God.
Let me encourage you today to change your view of things. Stop focusing on how hard your pillow is and look up at the open heaven...look up at the Son of God, upon whom angels ascend and descend. Know that the gate of Heaven is Jesus Christ and He is yours. And by faith anoint that hard place with oil. Call upon the Holy Spirit of God to come and make it a place of faith for you. And let the hard place become your launching place.
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