Jacob’s Ladder

?This whole incident tells us something very important about the Lord. Isaiah the prophet quotes God in Isaiah 65:1 as saying, “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I. What I Love about God is that he is good about showing up just when we don’t expect to meet Him.

There were times in the Bible when God came into people’s lives and showed up in an unusual way who he was.

Ask Moses and he will tell you: “The funniest thing happened, as I was taking a walk one day up in the mountains so that I could talk to the master. As I was walking and talking to God, a bush that caught fire and God spoke to me out of it.”

Paul, on the Damascus road, who only had hate on his mind when the Lord stopped him in his tracks and changed his life.

Gideon was busy with his job, threshing wheat, when the Lord came to him and announced that he was going to use his life in ways that Gideon had never dreamed of.

The list of Bible characters could go on and on, but there is enough evidence to show us at PTMC that God sometimes interrupts the ordinary in our lives to come to us in extraordinary ways. And he is still doing it today. ??I’m reminded of a young man in one of the towns where I served, and as he was driving to work one day and he encountered God unexpectedly.

He was far away from God; he had lived in the pleasures of the world. He had nearly ruined his life with drugs and alcohol.

He never came to church, and God was the last thing on his mind, but one day on his way to work God put his ladder down and stepped into his car.

There was no vision, but he felt the Lord moving in his heart in an unmistakable way and pulled his car off to the side of the road, the record is that he bowed his head and gave his life to Christ. His world was dramatically different from that moment on. He began to work with the youth in the community, telling them the miracle that had taken place in his life, and helping them to see what could happen to them if they gave their lives to God. ??Most of us cannot say that we have seen the sky open, nor have we passed by any flaming bushes.

We have not had a blinding experiences like Paul on the road to Damascus. But there are still those times when God came unexpectedly into our lives. It may be in our sleep. It may be when we are least thinking about it. It may have been in the club, or it could’ve been while you were sitting in church, or even some place where we should not be.

Some of us can remember the day and time when the Lord came in our lives. He may have come when we needed him the most, or when we feel we do not need him at all. It may have been in a time of crisis and depression, or it may be in a time of great blessing and joy.

But God is the God of the unexpected. He can come knocking on our door when we least expect him. He may even come when we least want to hear from Him.??Their was a story is told of an atheist who fell off a cliff, but as he was falling he reached out and grabbed a root. He was barely able to hang on and felt himself slipping. In a fit of desperation he screamed, “God, if you are up there, help me.” In a flash the voice of God came back and said, “Son, do you believe in me?” “He cried Yes,”, “I believe in you! What do you want me to do?” The voice of God came back strong and clear: “I want you to trust me and let go of the root.” There was a long pause before the atheist responded and said, “Is there anybody else up there?”