Genesis 46:1-2 “1 So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, ‘Jacob, Jacob.’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’”
YES, LORD
As far as we know from Scripture, it had been a while since the Lord had spoken to Jacob (Israel) in a dream or any other way. Do you remember Jacob’s dream at Bethel when he fled from Esau? God had promised to make him a great nation and to bring him back home. Well, here’s the same voice speaking to him again. This time the Lord says, “Go to Egypt.”
I can’t help but wonder why there was this gap in time of God speaking to Jacob. Did Jacob get comfortable back in Canaan? Did he get distracted with his family and flocks? Did his grief over Rachel and Joseph drown out the voice of God? We don’t know. But when God spoke to him again, he recognized His voice. Sweet!
TEACHING MOMENT
If you ever go out of town for work, do you call home and speak to your children? Of course, you do. Who wouldn’t do that? I bet the second they hear your voice they know it’s you, right? Today we have FaceTime and Skype so they can see your face too, but they know your voice. Why? Because you talk to them when you are home.
We need to teach our children to recognize the voice of the Lord. We need to talk to them about listening to His call on their life. When they feel that draw of the Spirit toward God, they need to be able to recognize it is the Lord. That’s only possible if they know what He sounds like. What is that? Love! Truth! Obedience! Just! Holy!
Do you struggle hearing God? Many of us do. But most of the time it is because we are too busy listening to other things. We get bombarded by life’s pressures and don’t hear what He is trying to tell us. He will NOT force us to listen, but He is always calling.
A Moment In Time 