Day 3: God Meets Runners
Day 3: God Meets Runners
Read: Genesis 28:10-17
Jacob was not in a good place when God met him. He was not spiritually impressive. He was not calmly seeking God at a retreat. He was running.
He had deceived his father. He had taken from his brother. His family was fractured. Esau wanted him dead. Jacob left home with fear behind him and uncertainty in front of him.
Then Genesis says he came to “a certain place.” Not a temple. Not a sanctuary. Not a holy site, at least not yet. Just an ordinary place on the side of an ordinary road.
He lies down with a stone for a pillow. Imagine the silence of that night. No family. No security. No plan. No distraction. Just Jacob, his fear, his guilt, and the consequences of his choices.
And that is where God meets him. That is the shock of grace.
God does not wait for Jacob to clean himself up. God does not wait for Jacob to fix everything. God does not wait until Jacob becomes humble, mature, honest, and spiritually impressive. God meets Jacob while Jacob is still running.
This does not mean God approves of Jacob’s deception. It means Jacob’s deception is not stronger than God’s grace.
God says to him, “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go.” To a lonely man, God says, “I am with you.” To a guilty man, God says, “I have not abandoned you.” To a frightened man, God says, “Your future is not outside My reach.”
This is important because some of us think God will meet us after we get our act together. After we fix the relationship. After we stop struggling. After we feel spiritual again. After we become the version of ourselves we wish we were.
But Yahweh-Shammah is the God who is there. Even there. Even in the ordinary place. Even in the guilty place. Even in the anxious place. Even in the place you did not want to be.
Reflection Questions:
Before bed tonight, pause for one minute and pray:
“God, meet me here. Not the version of me I wish I were. The real me, in this real place.”
Prayer:
Yahweh-Shammah, You are the God who is there. Thank You that You meet runners. Thank You that You meet people in ordinary places, guilty places, anxious places, and lonely places. Help me stop hiding. Help me receive Your presence as grace. Amen.
Read: Genesis 28:10-17
Jacob was not in a good place when God met him. He was not spiritually impressive. He was not calmly seeking God at a retreat. He was running.
He had deceived his father. He had taken from his brother. His family was fractured. Esau wanted him dead. Jacob left home with fear behind him and uncertainty in front of him.
Then Genesis says he came to “a certain place.” Not a temple. Not a sanctuary. Not a holy site, at least not yet. Just an ordinary place on the side of an ordinary road.
He lies down with a stone for a pillow. Imagine the silence of that night. No family. No security. No plan. No distraction. Just Jacob, his fear, his guilt, and the consequences of his choices.
And that is where God meets him. That is the shock of grace.
God does not wait for Jacob to clean himself up. God does not wait for Jacob to fix everything. God does not wait until Jacob becomes humble, mature, honest, and spiritually impressive. God meets Jacob while Jacob is still running.
This does not mean God approves of Jacob’s deception. It means Jacob’s deception is not stronger than God’s grace.
God says to him, “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go.” To a lonely man, God says, “I am with you.” To a guilty man, God says, “I have not abandoned you.” To a frightened man, God says, “Your future is not outside My reach.”
This is important because some of us think God will meet us after we get our act together. After we fix the relationship. After we stop struggling. After we feel spiritual again. After we become the version of ourselves we wish we were.
But Yahweh-Shammah is the God who is there. Even there. Even in the ordinary place. Even in the guilty place. Even in the anxious place. Even in the place you did not want to be.
Reflection Questions:
- Where are you most tempted to believe, “God will meet me after I fix this”?
- What are you running from right now: guilt, grief, truth, surrender, a conversation, obedience, God Himself?
- What ordinary place in your life might actually be a place where God wants to meet you?
- What would it mean that your failure is not stronger than God’s grace?
Before bed tonight, pause for one minute and pray:
“God, meet me here. Not the version of me I wish I were. The real me, in this real place.”
Prayer:
Yahweh-Shammah, You are the God who is there. Thank You that You meet runners. Thank You that You meet people in ordinary places, guilty places, anxious places, and lonely places. Help me stop hiding. Help me receive Your presence as grace. Amen.
Posted in Daily Devotional