Have you ever wondered in hard times, where is God as we walk through the days of our lives? That is why I am intrigued by a situation in Jacob’s life in the Old Testament. Here is the story:

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.”

What an experience. Jacob got to see what we wish we could see. He got a glimpse of the unseen realities of God’s presence in our lives. What he saw was a stairway reaching from earth to heaven with the Lord standing at the top and His angels moving up and down. I love his conclusion when he awoke that “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” And then he says, How awesome is this place! This is not other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

Here is what he realized. Wherever we are is the gate of heaven because wherever we are, God’s angels are and the Lord is. There is a dynamic interaction between heaven and earth wherever we are even though we are not aware of it. Like Jacob said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”

Today, wherever you are and whatever you are doing, you are at the gate of heaven. Think about that. You are not alone. Everywhere we are we ought to say with Jacob, “How awesome is this place.” Because wherever we are, He is there. His angels are there. Wherever we are we are at the gate of heaven. We cannot see it but it is there. How can we live in discouragement when we exist at the gate of heaven? 

This is where you live…At the gate of heaven.

Father, thank you for this amazing and awesome glimpse of spiritual realities. We are not alone. You are always here. In lonely times, don’t let us forget that. In times of discouragement or even the average times, don’t let us forget that. Amen