The Place Where God Meets With Man, by Patty Polyniak
Jacob's Dream
Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
The “secret place of the Most High” spoken of in Psalm 91 is the place where God meets with man.
Recently I was directed in a book I was reading to look at the usage of the word “place” in Gen. 28:10-19, and based on that passage to look at what might be the characteristics of the “place” where God meets with man.
The passage deals with Jacob and God. We first hear of this man Jacob in Genesis 25. Jacob is the son of Isaac who is the son of Abraham. Often in the OT we see God referred to as “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”.
Abraham, a picture of the Fatherhood of God.
Isaac, a picture of the Son of God, Jesus.
And Jacob, a picture of man.
This is Jacob’s first encounter with God.
Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.
Then he dreamed and behold a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and here the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
And behold the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.”
“Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
“Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.
And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.
And he called the name of that place Bethel (House of God); but the name of that city had been Luz previously.
From that passage here are some of the observations of the “secret place” or the place where God meets with man.
1. Jacob was on a journey from Beersheba to Haran.
God meets with us on our journey along the way to wherever we are headed. Simply put, we are NEVER alone. A journey can also be a “season” of life that we are in. Some seasons are harder than others. Harder in the sense that we have to fight for time to dwell in the secret place with God. Someone recently told me that it’s at 3am in the morning she gets up and has her time alone with God. Another person takes an early morning drive just to be alone with God. A hard or busy season in our life does not exempt us from spending time in that secret place with God. In fact the tougher the season is the more we need to take the time to be alone with God. Now at the age of 53 I look back at some of the seasons of my life and regret that I did not fight harder for time alone with God. There is blessing at any age and in any season when we take the time to be alone with God.
2. We are told that Jacob came to a certain place. Jacob had no idea how special God would make that place. Just find a place, the location of the place does not matter, it is God’s presence that will make it special. And come alone. God does His best work with us when we are alone with Him.
3.The sun had set and it was time for him to stop and rest. Ceasing from whatever we are doing is necessary. We can not have a good relationship with God on the run. If we refuse to stop “when the sun has set” we will be walking or for some of us “running” in darkness. Sadly, it is possible to “minister” in darkness and in our own strength!
4. Jacob stayed at the place all night. It takes time. We cannot rush God. We all know that quantity of time is necessary in our earthly relationships for them to grow and be sustained . Our relationship with God is no different. Intimacy with God is not going to happen if we shortchange God with our time.
5. Jacob took a stone, used it as a pillow and lay down to sleep.
Do not think of meeting with God as a chore one must do, but rather a place of rest, unloading burdens, spending time with a friend whom you trust and you know loves you and desires to spend time with you and wants to hear what is on your heart.
6. Then he dreamed. Don’t limit what God will give you in the secret place. He is full of surprises. Faithful, merciful, loving but never predictable.
7. A ladder was set up on the earth and reached to heaven. Never forget it was God’s idea to commune with man. God sent His Son, Jesus to make a way for us on earth to speak with Him, who resides in heaven. There is one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ. God initiated the relationship.
8. Angels are ascending and descending on the ladder. We have an audience listening in and they are very interested in what goes on between God and man. Our world is much bigger than we know.
Sometimes my world can get so small. Family, church, work, neighborhood. In the secret place where angels are listening in I can ask God to increase my awareness of His rule over all the earth, every nation, tribe and peoples are in His view at all times.
9. And behold, the Lord stood above it and spoke… The Lord is present and speaking. His words are always to bless us. “Bless” does not necessarily mean whatever we think is best, but rather trusting God to give to us whatever is necessary at the moment to make us more holy, draw us nearer to Him, grow our faith, increase our awareness of His presence, see a need for repentance.
Can you and I say, “God, I trust you to bless me and those I pray for with your blessings and in your time and for your purposes?
10. Behold I am with you and will keep (protect) you wherever you go. In that secret place you and I should hear of his faithfulness and protection and that He will never leave us or forsake us. If we hear words of condemnation that sound like, “Oh, you haven’t been around for a while, don’t bother now”. Any word that moves you away from the Lord is a word of condemnation. There is a difference between condemnation and conviction. Condemnation moves one away from God and conviction that leads to repentance moves one toward Him.
11. I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you. As long as we are in our earthly bodies God is not finished with us yet. Never give up. “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
12. Jacob awoke and said, Surely the Lord is in this place. Jacob did not say, “what a weird dream, what did I eat before I went to bed?” No, he believed that the presence of God was right there with Him. Jacob started out in the flesh and ended up in the spirit. Whether we “feel” his presence or not there are many scriptures that assure you and I of God’s presence with us. We need to go into our secret place standing on the word of God by faith, the feelings may or may not be there but that doesn’t change was is true.
13. Jacob speaks and says, “How awesome is this place!” That’s where we want to be. Seeing, knowing and declaring the awesomeness of God. We don’t have to wait to get to heaven to be awestruck by God. He desires for us to be drawn to him over and over again. He is amazing and time with Him alone will accomplish far more than my nonstop scrambling to get things done ever will. Not true of me yet, but I want to run to the secret place whenever I get the chance. I want to turn from looking to earthly things to satisfy me or dull the pain of life and run to God alone.
14. Jacob rose early, took the stone pillow , set it up as a pillar, and poured oil over it and named the place Bethel or House of God.
These were memorials Jacob set up to remember this encounter with God. Jacob did not want to forget this night. He did what he could to “remember” what God had given him. You and I need to figure out what it is that helps us remember what God tells us. For some of us it is meditation and memorization, journaling, sharing (if God wants me to), praying over it, obedience to it, fasting if that is what is called for. Write songs, paint pictures.
Get a rock, pour oil over it and name the place.
Just don’t forget what you get.
And keep going back for more.
15. Jacob called the place Bethel meaning House of God, but the place was previously named Luz.
Any encounter with God and his truth will change us from a previous state.In time we will become more like him.For “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
Have you ever been on a beach on a hot, sunny day and you put up the umbrella to sit in the shade? If you stay there long enough you will have to keep moving your chair to remain in the shadow of the umbrella. We have an amazing God with a great big shadow, but He is not a stagnant God, He is a God on the move with His purposes in mind. If we want to abide under the shadow of the Almighty we must do something. We must dwell in the secret place of the Most High. And the word “dwell” has a “staying” connotation to it. It is not a “quick” word.
I encourage myself and you to spend time in the secret place where God meets with man.
Patty Polyniak
February 2nd, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Thank you for this, it was exactly what I needed to read today. I’m setting up my pillow as we speak in my classroom:) Thank you again.