What am I talking about? Well, really everything I am about to say boils down to is this - "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:7
Look at this story about Jacob.
Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 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. There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “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.”
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 28:10-17)
There are a lot of observations you can make in from this.
1. When Jacob was shown grace, his only desire was to follow God.
2. God basically said, "I am going to be good to you and there is nothing you can do about it."
3. Jacob was in awe of this one place.
If you look closely though, God said, "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go." But Jacob said, "How awesome is this place."
I am not saying Jacob was wrong for recognizing that something great just happened but he seemed to miss out on the fact that God was always with him.
A lot of people today are searching for God. People who confess that Jesus is their savior are searching for God. What do we believe about that Gospel? Isn't it that Christ lives in us (and more importantly, we live in him)?
I am learning to let Jesus guard my heart not just from "the world" or from the devil but also from myself. When I believe contrary to the truth and think I am no good, He reminds me that He has made all things new for me.
So now you and I can say, "How awesome is this place!" when we think of our hearts. It is there where we can trust His peace to care for us and to secure us in Him.
