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"A place," the Bible calls it. There was nothing special about the place. Nondescript, the middle of nowhere, the Bible marks it only as where Jacob laid his head for a night's rest.

It was the first stop on Jacob's flight from his brother and his journey to find family and his place in the world. Behind him: deception. He had stolen his brother's rightful inheritance and place. Before him: the unknown. Hopefully a better life. A life that included a godly wife and family and a prosperous job.

Exhausted from the trek, wary of the dangers, he put a stone near his head, most likely as a weapon, perhaps as a talisman. The stone was his only protection from the dangers of the wild and from his brother who might be pursuing him.

It's not that different from what most of us have behind and before us. We have ugly pasts, deceptions in our jobs, in our lives. We have hopeful futures of happy families and prosperous careers. We look forward to accomplishments, significance in what we do, and affecting the world in a meaningful way.

On our journeys, we have fears. We fear the up and coming new graduate. If we're the new graduate, we fear not finding our place in this world. We fear job cuts. We fear the co-worker who forms alliances and thrives on rumors like a candidate on Survival. Exhausted from our trek, the late nights and the stress, and wary of the dangers, we line our weapons around us. We pursue further education. We make ourselves indispensable to the company. We align ourselves with allies who will fight with and for us. We increase our sales. We work later nights.

Our eyes droop. Our strength wanes. Our bodies ache.

In that place, Jacob fell asleep.

And he dreamed.

In his dream, God came to Jacob. Heaven came down to earth. A stairway from earth reached up to the sky. Angels climbed up and down, on their journey between God's kingdom and earth. At the top of the stairway stood the Lord. He looked down to Jacob and said, "I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the ground you are lying on" (Genesis 28:13, NET).

God met Jacob in that place. He revealed Who He is, He aligned Himself with Jacob, and He made promises that only He could keep. He promised protection, a family, and a place in this world.

Not any place. That place. The very place where Jacob slept.

God doesn't make promises to us that we'll never be fired or that we'll have a family or that we'll be prosperous. He reveals Who He

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