“Jacob took the stone he had used for his pillow and stood it up as a memorial pillar and poured oil over it. He christened the place Bethel (or God’s House)” (Genesis 28:18-19 MSG). Jacob turned his pillow into a pillar and renamed the place of his pain.
What is your version of a stone pillow? What reminds you of mistakes you’ve made or things you’ve lost? A divorce decree, a headstone? What is your version of a desert? An empty house, a hospital room, a desktop of unpaid bills?
The promise of Jacob and Bethel is this: the Lord is in the wilderness, in the despair, in the misery, mess, and mayhem, and broken hearts. God will meet you. God will speak, angels will come. And you will soon declare, “The Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”
