How are you? How is your week going? Have you felt alone this week? Have you felt like you’ve fallen to your lowest place or maybe out of favor with God?
There are times when I feel this way. I feel alone in my struggles. I feel alone in my sin and shame. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen from time to time.
There are times when I have fallen into sin and my guilt is overwhelming. Or there are times when I see the ugliness of my selfishness and pride, and my shame is crippling. There are times when I doubt God’s love for me, because I have sinned too greatly.
I think Jacob was all these things in our passage this past Sunday. He felt the guilt and shame of his sin. He deceived and betrayed his own father. His brother hates him and wants to kill him. He is separated from the mother who loves him. And he is alone in the passage. All of these are a result of his own act of sin.
However, God is gracious. He gives Jacob a dream about a ladder descending upon the earth. Through the dream, God tells Jacob that he is not alone. He has not sinned out of God’s grace and covenantal blessings. God confirms the blessing on Jacob’s life. He reassures Jacob of His presence, His protection, His preservation, and Jacob’s own homecoming.
If you are in Christ Jesus, you are in the same place. You have sinned. You have rebelled against your Creator. And yet, because of Christ, God is gracious towards you. He will bless you and keep you. He will protect and preserve you. He will be with you.
It’s because Jesus is the ultimate ladder from heaven (John 1:50-51). He is the ultimate God with us. He received God’s wrath on the cross, so that we can receive God’s presence. He was cursed so that we may be blessed. He took on all our guilt and shame so that we may be restored. He took on death itself, so that we may receive life.
If you feel alone this week, remember that God is with you in Christ. If you find your guilt overwhelming or your shame crippling, trust in Christ who took on your guilt and shame on the cross. If you feel like you have gone too far away from God, know that Christ has come from far away to pursue you.
God confirmed His promises to Jacob through a ladder in a dream. He confirms His promises to us through the cross in the Word. Reflect on this truth this week, and may it bless and encourage you!
See you at Lord’s Day Worship this Sunday! Come out to our last topical study of February 2020 after fellowship! It will be on the book of Habakkuk.
In Christ,
Pastor Tim
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