Day #30 - Presence Unaware

The Presence - A Devotional for Living in Thanksgiving, Worship and Wonder

“When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.””

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭28‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Photo by Ben Allan on Unsplash

Have you ever had a major opportunity right there in your life but for whatever reason you didn’t know about it at the time?

How often do we go through life and we are surrounded by amazing people and circumstances that we are completely unaware of? There are many stories I’ve heard about people that had a chance at an investment but didn’t know what they were passing up. I’ve heard of other situations where people passed up a relationship or a job opportunity only to find out they missed out on something that would have made them wealthy or successful beyond what they could have imagined.

Could it be that you have been near the manifest presence of God and you didn’t know it?

Jacob in Genesis 28 had just received a blessing that he technically didn’t deserve from his father Isaac and went on a journey. On this journey, he stopped for the night to sleep. During his sleep he had an encounter with God where He saw the Lord in a dream standing on top of a stairway to heaven. This stairway was the place of angelic activity where angels ascended and descended. When he awoke he realized the Lord was in that place and he was unaware.

The fear of the Lord came upon Jacob and he realized he was in a holy place. He was in the presence of God and unaware of it at first, but when he became aware of it he exclaimed this was an awesome place, the house of God. What is the house of God? The place that is a gate to heaven. The place where God’s presence dwells, is His house, an outpost or landing spot for heaven.

Jacob seems a little mystified and in awe that he could be in such an amazing place and not have realized it first. Jacob called that place Bethel. This is the first time the house of God is mentioned in the Bible and it becomes a major theme throughout the rest of the Scriptures.

But let’s think about this for a moment. We are one encounter away from everything changing in our lives. There was a reality that Jacob became aware of when his eyes were open to what God was doing in that place. Encounters with God’s presence also have the ability to make us more aware of God’s presence.

We might be near the greatest opportunity of our lives, if we are near the presence of God and we might be completely unaware of it. May God open our eyes to experience “The presence” and may we not remain unaware.

Father, open my eyes to be aware of Your presence around me. I don’t to go through my life, my days, my religious disciplines and even church services being unaware of Your presence. Reveal the awesomeness of who You are and the true heavenly activity of the house of God to me. Let me see where You are working and experience the glory in your midst that I might live in holy fear and awe. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.