A Promise-Keeping God
I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.
(Genesis 28: 15)
It is the new year - it's 2020! Another new beginning of a year-long journey. As we climb through the first few steps of the year, a lot of questions would surface in our minds. Looking at the challenges kept before us, the heart skips a beat. There's so much to achieve. So many to come through. And, more than anything else, there is hope and yearning that things would be positive towards us. We whisper in our prayers, "God, next year, at this time, I want to see your promises come true."
As I contemplate on such a beginning of a new journey, I am reminded about a life-changing and unexpected journey that Jacob had to take. He was, on one hand, journeying away from his home to find a better life filled with promises, and on the other escaping from the wrath of his brother Esau. Tired of the frustration, fear and stress, Jacob finds a stone to rest his head on an important night of his journey. I could imagine the thoughts that went through Jacob's mind before he would have tiringly yawned all the way into a deep sleep. Questions of all kinds would have been hanging in his curious mind. Fears of failures and uncertainties would have dominated him.
On that unforgettable night, God met Jacob. It was Jacob's encounter with God. Jacob had a dream. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. God reminds Jacob that he is not alone. The dream was a reminder to Jacob that God's wonderful and never-changing presence was moving with him - a stairway that keeps you connected to the glory of God. And then, Jacob saw above it the Lord.
God tells Jacob something. And this 'something' turns out to be one of the greatest promises ever that stands true until this very day. God said to Jacob, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Wow!
Did Jacob ever expect this? Was he praying for God's promise to be given? No. He was clueless. Indeed, Jacob believed in the blessings of God, but only the blessings that his father Isaac had given him. Nothing more did he ever even dream about. And, in such a powerful encounter, the All-Knowing God meets the clueless and anxious Jacob. God comes in search of Jacob and God promises him. We know what happened after is a great history. Indeed, God's mighty presence did not leave Jacob until God did what He promised him in Bethel on that night. We have so many times come across the great history of how this promise that the Lord God gave became so true in all miraculous and wonderful ways.
Today, God is coming towards you. His never-leaving, never forsaking presence is with you. You may be anxious and worried about the year ahead right at the beginning of this journey. But remember that the Lord your God, the Holy One who leads you, is watching over you. Wherever you go and whatever you do, His presence is with you and He is waiting for the moment for that precious encounter with you, which may happen in your least expected circumstance. And, the Lord God who created you, who knit you in your mother's womb, is promising you the same today. He will not leave you until He has done what He has promised you!
I pray that you will feel and acknowledge the presence of God that moves with you, trust in the promises God has given you, and live a life of faith that leads you towards the realisation of the glorious blessings God has for you. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit be with you and guide you through His promises.
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
