Genesis 28:11 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.
Transits are stops between two travel points where we are forced to rest on uncomfortable plastic chairs and neck pillows! When Jacob was on a journey to his grandparents, he was forced to take a transit at a certain place as the sun had set. His journey was on foot, through the dry desert that had no motels to stop and rest. He made himself comfortable on a stone in the dark lonely desert sand. It was at that unplanned transit that God spoke to him in a dream. Genesis 28:12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven. 13 There above it, stood the Lord, and he said: I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14b All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. The Lord didn’t speak to him in a dream or vision before he left his cosy home; He spoke to him in his loneliness. The unplanned loneliness is God’s plan to have ‘one on one’ with us.
We might be in a forced transit. Life might have parked us in a dry dark and lonely desert where we are not able to see a ray of hope. God allows desert transit stops to get our attention. Tune in to hear His voice and see His glory.
Three things happen in the dull dark desert transits of life:
1. Transmission: The transmission signal between heaven and earth will be clear, profound and resounding. We might be forced to be stuck in a place or a position. It might be uncomfortable and inconvenient. Our neck could be hurting, body aching and our heart could be breaking but it is in the loneliness of a loss, lack or lumber will the transmission of God’s voice be loud and clear. He has all our attention in the desert, hence the transmission to our soul will be succulent and poignant.
2. Vision: It is in these forced uncomfortable transits will the Lord help us to revisit our vision, revise, review and refocus His plan for our lives. Jacob was swayed by material possession and blessings but the Lord instilled the vision for his life during the lonely forced transit.
3. Commission: Jacob received a road map for his journey at his unplanned, cold transit at the desert. Genesis 28:15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. We don’t find ourselves in a blurred and unexpected transit between jobs, relationships or assignments by chance. This is God’s blueprint to get our attention to the vision and launch us on His commission.
Let us not complain about our unexpected and uncomfortable transit – it is only in the dry, dark and dull desert will the transmission of His voice be succinct and the vision of our future, lucid. It is on a cramped plastic chair at the transit point of life that God will unveil His mission and vision for our life.
Genesis 28:16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it. 19 He called that place Bethel.
Prayer: Dear Lord, the transits between jobs, relationships and missions are difficult and draining. Help us to tune our spiritual ears and eyes to hear and see you clearly. Amen
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