16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” – Genesis 28:16
Have you ever woken from a sleep so deep that you forgot what day it was? Ah, those sleeps are the best! It happens to me pretty frequently, especially on Monday mornings. There is nothing like a good sleep after you’ve expended yourself in a hard day’s work. While I don’t often get to bed as early as I’d like, there is a point nearly every evening when my need for sleep begins to compete with whatever it is I’m trying to accomplish. My eyes get heavy, the book or remote begin to fall out of my hands, and I think to myself, I should probably go to bed. But, for whatever reason, I never seem to go to bed the first time it happens. For as much as I like sleep, I always seem to push it off. Which inevitably means when my head hits the pillow… I. am. out. cold. Literally, within seconds. And typically I don’t wake up until at or just before my alarm. Indeed, on the best of occasions, I’ll wake up from a sleep so deep that I think I’m late for school.
This week, in Genesis 28, Jacob lays his head on a rock and falls into a deep sleep. It’s a sleep that contains an incredible dream which includes a visit from the LORD. The sleep was so deep and so profound that he woke with a completely disorienting sense of where he was and who he was with. Take some time and check out the text. It’ll be a familiar story to many of us but, man, is it incredible! This week the message is called “Presence of Glory.” And wow, what I wouldn’t give to have a dream like the one we’ll study together this week. So, hey, go ahead and get some deep, forget-where-you-are sleep. And when you wake up, remember it’s Sunday. Then come ready to reorient yourself in some incredible theological truth.
Love you Church!
Pastor Jerry Lingenfelter