“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day” (Psalms 46:4-5) [NIV].
We live in a time where there is so much access to science and technology that help us with discoveries and findings; and then we so much trust these man-made systems, that we arrive at conclusions in the very crucial matters of our lives, even our faith. We often forget that man controls science and they invent technologies. We also need to remember that every man has been created with deficiencies and imperfections, which implies that science and technologies have very high tendencies to fail and become ineffective. So when science suggests that an end has come to a situation, or by technology, we conclude that the sun had set, these can only be subject to the approval of the Owner and the Creator of nature, climates, man, and all other contributing factors; “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
When we say the sun had set, it means that everything has come to an end. When the sun sets, it is dark; there is no sight of the sun anymore, and we could say maybe no hope for the situation that is at hand. We give up so much easily especially in this age and time especially when we have considered what the science has suggested about the situation at hand. So when we say the sun had set, then we can give up and become hopeless, and maybe there’s no need for trying anymore, throwing in the towel.
However, God’s reality most of the time is not our reality. When the sun had set for Jacob, he decided to sleep using a stone as a pillow. Using a stone as a pillow is significant because it was a rough season in the life of Jacob, especially when the sun had set for him. God is a God of all times, the God of sunshine and the time of darkness. He is the God of the evening time, the God of winter, summer, autumn, and spring. Etc. So the fact that the sun had set does not stop God from doing anything, and that’s the reason Jacob saw God in that revelation that night. The significance of this is that if God revealed himself to Jacob at sunset, it means all hope is not lost even when the sun had set for us as believers. With God there is hope.
Jacob did only have that revelation of God, but God made a covenant with him. He told him the scope of his covenant, the program, and the agenda that He has for his children, his grandchildren, and descendants after him and He was going to give him a huge land to inherit. And the Bible says in verse 16 that Jacob woke up and found that the Lord was in that place, but he did not know. In our lives, we enter some seasons when it is so dark without any hope of sunshine, we must always remember that the Lord is with us. We seldom forget that His presence is always with us because we allow these circumstances and the atmosphere of discomfort, trials and tribulations, pain, and sickness to override our sense of judgment. So, we conclude there’s no hope because the sun had set.
David wrote in Psalm 46; the Lord is a very present help in time of trouble. We must remind ourselves that God is always with us. It does not matter what the situation or the circumstances are. The Lord is always with us, His love for us will never diminish, even when we use stones as a pillow, and life has made us so uncomfortable. We make them happen and then we blame God and ask why me God?
The simple message is never to give up on God! Even when you feel the sun had set in your marriage, career, and health. Maybe the doctors have said you have just three months to live. The Lord is very present with you to love and care for you! So don’t stop trusting and believing in Jesus because He is the only channel to the Father and through Him, you and I can receive the sight to see the Sun again.
Scripture Text: Genesis 28:10-17 NKJV
[10] Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. [11] So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. [12] Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. [13] And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. [14] Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. [15] Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” [16] Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” [17] And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
