In Genesis 28 we follow part of a journey for a man named Jacob. He has moved out of his home and into the unknown. He has just received a blessing from his father and was sent to another city to find a wife and start his new life. At a certain point in his travels, he stopped to rest for the night. And since the founding fathers of the faith get nothing but the best accommodations, he slept using a rock as his pillow. While he slept, he had a dream where God spelled out a blessing for him: his descendants would be so numerous that they would spread across the earth, and as they spread, they would be a blessing to the world.

In verse 15 God makes this promise, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” This is an amazing promise for God to make to Jacob! It is also a promise that God has made to each of us through the life and work of Jesus Christ.

We need to notice though, that this promise doesn’t say you will never face hard times. It doesn’t say your life will be perfect and easy. God promises us that he will never leave us. When we face hard times, we can hear that voice in the back of our heads that likes to shout and lie to us, “you are in this alone,” “no one else cares,” “there is no help coming.” When we go through the inevitable hard times of life, we need to do our best to lean into the promises God has made to us.

Jacob goes on to do great things, when he faced hard times, he turned to the God of the promise and saw God come through again and again. When he woke up Jacob said in verse 16, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” On those days when it feels like you are sleeping on a rock, I hope you can look back and remember the days that God came through for you in the past.

I hope you can be surprised by finding the Lord in unexpected places.