Where is your Bethel?

¹⁶ When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” ¹⁷ 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.” ¹⁸ Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ He called that place Bethel,^[a] though the city used to be called Luz. ²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear ²¹ so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD^[b] will be my God ²² and^[c] this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”  - Genesis 28:16-22

How many of us have been to that place?  You know that moment in your life where you are so close to God you feel His very presence all around you!!  The Holy Spirit falls on you so heavy you can barely move from the place you stand.  God himself speaks to your heart and because your spirit is so in tune with His you hear his voice resonate throughout your entire body.  He speaks so loudly and clearly to your heart that you really do hear it in your ears.  Nothing else on earth matters and for that moment in time you feel the power of The Almighty; you are scared and silent, yet joyful and alive.

If you close your eyes even right now you can picture it so clear it is like you are there again in your mind and perhaps for just a brief moment we start to feel Him again.  The physical setting of the room, the memory is crystal clear, but the feeling, well not so easy to relive.  How we all long to get back to that place when our heart met with God’s and he spoke to us, individually.  What happened? We might ask ourselves.  Why can’t I get the feeling again?  Why doesn’t God speak to me anymore?  We might even re-visit the place physically, thinking we can re-experience the wonderful awesomeness we felt once before.  Problem is God was not in that place physically, He was in YOU, spiritually.

Why did it have to end?  Just like Jacob, we may experience a God-moment too amazing to be true.  We leave promising ourselves we will do whatever it takes to stay in-tune with God so we can experience HIS presence again and again.  But just like for Jacob, life happens. Jacob, travelled on to Paddan Aram, got a job, married and had children.  Hmmm, sounds familiar, (well except travelling to Paddan Aram, I don’t even have a clue where that is!!)   Not to say that you aren’t suppose to work or have a spouse and children, but when we “leave” our Bethel, life takes God away from us.  The 10 minute prayer time every morning slowly disappears because we keep staying up too late the night before.  Reading scripture on lunch break is too hard because all the conversations in the break room are too loud or too interesting.  We just cannot make it to church every Sunday, after all we have to have a life too!!

The excuses pile up all the while your life continues out of control with the stress of trying to manage everything on your own.  Where did it all go wrong?  Why can’t I get back to that peaceful feeling I had?  Where is God now?  Truth is God is still with you, He never left and never will.
 

                “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” – Joshua 1:5

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” – Hebrews 13:5

So the question you should ask is not how do I get back to where I was, but how do I get back to who I was?  What things were you surrounding yourself with spiritually at the time of your Bethel experience?  Were you in a season of prayer and meditation?  Fasting for a spiritual break-through?  Maybe you were involved in a Bible study that drew you close through scripture.  Or perhaps you were on the road to Emmaus and your eyes were opened to Christ with the reading of the scripture and breaking of the bread?  Think back, remember it clearly in your mind and heart.  What were some of the things you were experiencing and doing that lead you to the moment when God spoke directly your heart?  God didn’t just show up because you willed Him to, you heard His voice because you were “in-tune” with Him and recognized it by not the sound, but the feeling!!

If you want to get back to your Bethel perhaps you need to begin practicing those same things again.  Or maybe you need to try something different.  Are you in the Word daily, weekly?  Do you spend any time with just you and God?  It isn’t easy to make time for God, but then He never promised it would be easy, He only promised he would always be there.  God is waiting to meet you at your Bethel again.  He lingers at that place everyday hoping you will come back to see Him, feel Him, experience HIS presence.  How long will you keep Adonai waiting? 

 

Jacob took nearly 27 years to return. Genesis 35:1,9-11, 14-15

“Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an alter there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”

“After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.  God said to him, ‘Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.”

“Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it.  Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.”

Notice the last sentence quoted, “Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.”  God did not speak to Jacob, He spoke WITH him!!  The Creator of the Universe is waiting to have a conversation WITH YOU!!  Things and people weaken your faith, listen for God’s calling and go back.  Once you are there you will find you have the strength & faith to withstand the trials of everyday life.

Called by Christ,

Amanda