Lynn Jones: “Discovering God in Unlikely Places”
By Lynn Jones
In a South American City, a large earthquake had shaken the ground and had left the city in chaos. Many buildings had been reduced to rubble. One such pile of rubble had once been a church with a lofty steeple. Now, the only way you could identify it as a church was by looking at the church sign which was still standing near the street. On the sign was the name of the church and a verse of Scripture, “Surely the Lord is in this place.”
When you looked at the pile of rubble that was in the place of what used to be a church, the verse of scripture seemed ironic and out of place. But when you read the story from which it was taken in the Old Testament, it was a very appropriate verse for a time like this.
Jacob was the younger of the two sons of Isaac. Because of this, Jacob’s older brother Esau was in the favored position in the family. He would inherit both the birthright and the blessing as the first-born son. But what Jacob did not have because he was the second born, he made up for because of his cunning and Esau’s weakness. Soon, he had possession of both the birthright and the blessing. When Esau learned that Jacob had deceived their father into giving him the blessing, he swore to kill Jacob. To escape his brother’s wrath, Jacob left home. He traveled all day, and nightfall found him alone and depressed. He had no family or friends near him. He didn’t even have a place to lay his head, so he used a rock for his pillow. Exhausted, he soon fell asleep and dreamed. God gave him a dream of a stairway leading from his place in the wilderness to the presence of God. Angels moved up and down the stairway. God spoke to him and gave him great promises about his future. When Jacob awakened from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in the place, and I was not aware of it” (Gen. 28:16).
How often that is true in life! We feel alone and forsaken, but then the Lord moves in our lives and we make the discovery that Jacob made–“the Lord is in this place.” He has not abandoned us or lost track of us. He knows where we are and what our need is. God is often at work in places and ways that we have never suspected.
Who would have suspected that God was present in the wilderness in the life of a young man like Jacob. Yet, God was at work in this place and had a wonderful plan for Jacob’s life. Don’t ever give up on God. Have faith. Often, we discover with Jacob that “surely the Lord is in this place.”
Lynn Jones is a retired pastor who lives in Oxford. He does supply preaching for churches in his area and often serves as an interim pastor. Jones is also an author, has written two books and writes a weekly newspaper column. He may be contacted at: kljones45@yahoo.com.
