EVERYWHERE YOU GO

"That night God spoke to Israel in a vision: 'Jacob, Jacob!' He said.
And Jacob replied, 'Here I am.'
God said, 'I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you back. Joseph will put his hands on your eyes.' " (Genesis 46:2-4 HCSB)

Everywhere you go, God is already there. Theologians have a term for that--God is omnipresent. But it is not just a doctrinal proposition to lodge in our head, it is a dynamic principle to lift up our heart! As we near the end of our study in Genesis, surely there are so many things we have swirling around in our thoughts, so many feelings rushing through our soul, yet at the core of all we find God--ruling over all we find God--everywhere we see His hand. Often, we hear His voice.

Jacob did. This old man has not had an easy life. Many of the wounds were self-inflicted--the consequence of poor choices. God used the chisel of chastisement to knock off the rough edges and the sandpaper of sorrow to polish him. When we find him nearing the end of his days, there is still more grinding to be done. But, Jacob has come a long way. God loved him too much to leave him alone. After all, the LORD had promised, " 'Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.' When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.' " (Genesis 28:15, 16 HCSB) He is there, even when we are unaware. God had been faithful to Jacob, even though Jacob had repeatedly been unfaithful to God. There were stretches of time when Jacob was so wrapped up in himself that he virtually ignored the Lord. Still, God never ignored him.

Genesis begins with God. He speaks everything into existence. What He does not do is send the world spinning into space and sit aloof watching from a distance as things evolve over eons of time from some primordial ooze by hit and miss, random mutation, survival of the fittest, natural selection, until we reach mankind. What He does not do is casually observe the developments of human history, detached from those events. As we read Genesis, we see God everywhere, intimately acquainted with all that concerns us. God is in the garden walking with Adam and Eve. When they sin, He reaches out to them and in their nakedness clothes them. Cain kills his brother and God confronts him. God secures Noah in the ark, while he judges the world for their blatant wickedness. The Scripture speaks of Him coming down to deal with Babel and Sodom. He calls Abraham and enters into a covenant relationship with him and his sons after him--Isaac and Jacob. When Joseph is removed from his earthly father's presence, his Heavenly Father is with him--in the pit, in the prison and then in the palace. From start to finish of this book we see a God who is there!

He has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

When you cry, He is there to grieve with you and comfort you. When you toss and turn at night with a heart of anxiety, He watches over you and gives you peace. When you go to the doctor's office for a report you dread, the Great Physician accompanies you. When you walk into the boss's office and he hands you a pink slip, Jehovah Jireh--the LORD our Provider is there. In good times and bad, days that make us glad and those that make us sad, sitting in a waiting room celebrating a newborn's arrival or standing in a graveyard crying at a loved one's departure--everywhere you go, God is there. I love the way the old hymn expresses it:

"Never a trial that He is not there,
Never a burden that He doth not bear;
Never a sorrow that He doth not share,
Moment by moment, I'm under His care.

Never a heartache, and never a groan,
Never a teardrop, and never a moan;
Never a danger but there on the throne
Moment by moment He thinks of His own.

Never a weakness that He doth not feel,
Never a sickness that He cannot heal;
Moment by moment, in woe or in weal,
Jesus, my Savior, abides with me still.

Moment by moment I'm kept in His love,
Moment by moment I've life from above;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine;
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine." (Daniel Whittle)

Everywhere you go, look for Him. He is there. Look for Him and the glory will break upon you!