Right at the very beginning of Genesis we were told about how the serpent persuaded Adam and Eve to reach out and take what did not belong to them, and how as a result they were driven beyond the walls of the garden into the eastern wilderness. They were driven out of God’s presence, and the gateway was closed behind them. But they went with God’s promise that one day the garden would be opened to them once again, and they would be able to re-enter their Father’s house. And so they lived the rest of their lives watching that eastern gateway of the garden, waiting.

But one of their sons decided he was not going to live patiently in the open, without walls, waiting for God. His name was Cain, and he moved away into the eastern wilderness, where he built a city for himself. In effect, he build his own walled garden, where he could be in control of the gates.

And so, right from the very beginning, mankind was divided into two great families: on one hand there were the sons of God, who called upon the name of the Lord when they were in trouble; on the other hand there were the sons of the serpent, who called upon their own strength when they were in trouble.

The sons of God became farmers and shepherds: they dedicated their lives to caring for the earth, trusting God for provision and protection. The sons of the serpent became hunters, warriors, city builders: they dedicated their lives to caring for themselves, to the idea that the best way to win God’s blessing is to reach out and take it for yourself.

And this division reached its peak with the city of Babylon, which means The Gate of the Gods. With that name, the sons of the serpent were claiming that they had rediscovered the gateway back into the garden of God, the garden of the gods! They were claiming that they had discovered the spot where heaven connects to earth. And they were claiming that they were were in control of that gateway.

And as we might expect, these sons of the serpent accumulated power rapidly. Babylon quickly became an empire, and it looked as if they were going to kill or enslave all the peoples on earth, including the sons of God.

But we know what happened: God rescued the world from Babylon’s ambition. He cursed the city with confusion, and the empire fell apart. Its name was changed from Babylon to Babel. Its builders had called it The Gate of the Gods, but actually it was The Tower of Confusion.

And out of the ruins of that civilization, God rescued one man named Abraham. He drew Abraham out of the eastern land of walls and towers, and called him to live patiently in the open, without walls, trusting God for provision and protection.

And Abraham was obedient: he lived as a shepherd. His son Isaac was also obedient: he was a shepherd and a farmer. Like the sons of God before the flood, they dedicated their lives to caring for the earth.

But Isaac’s sons…are a different matter.

One son, Esau, has become a hunter and a warrior: he is definitely the kind of man who reaches out and takes for himself, the kind of man who calls upon his own strength when he is in trouble. He is definitely a son of the serpent.

The second son, Jacob, started out as a shepherd, which was a good sign! — but then he also turned out to be the kind of man who reaches out and takes for himself. He does not look very much like one of the sons of God.

And so, as we catch up to Jacob today, we find him on the road, travelling toward the east. Just like Adam and Eve — who rebelled against their Heavenly Father and were driven out of his presence into the eastern wilderness — so now Jacob, who rebelled against his father Isaac, has been driven out of Isaac’s presence into the eastern wilderness.

And as we travel with Jacob back toward the land of cities, back toward the land of confusion that his grandfather Abraham escaped from, we are wondering what kind of man he is going to turn out to be.

Is he going to learn how to call on the name of the Lord when he is in trouble? Or is he going to continue to call upon his own strength?

Is he going to continue to live as a shepherd and farmer, like Abraham, like Adam? Or is he going to build a city of his own, like Cain did?

In other words, we are wondering which family Jacob is really from: is he a son of the serpent, or a son of God?

Let’s find out:

[10] Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran.

So he is travelling in a north-easterly direction, toward his uncle’s house, where he is hoping to find protection from Esau’s murderous rage.

And [11] when he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.

And as we read this, we have to remember that Jacob is a mama’s boy. A home-body. This is the kid who has always stayed close to home. He doesn’t travel! He doesn’t go camping!

And so the picture Moses is painting for us is of a completely inexperienced young man wandering in the right general direction, but without any real idea about how to make a long road-trip safely. No doubt if Esau was making this journey, he would have stopped and set up a secure camp an hour before sunset, with a proper meal and everything. But Jacob just walks until it’s dark, and then thinks, “Oh…I guess I’m stopping here for the night!”

And so he ends up sleeping in some random place, behind some random rocks.

And I realize that our translation here says that he takes one of the stones and puts it under his head, which has given many people the idea that this is a small stone, and that he is using it as a pillow. Which sounds horrible!

But that is not really what Moses is describing. This stone is a large stone, and Jacob is sleeping sitting up, leaning against it, so that he can remain somewhat alert and ready to defend himself if he is attacked. Because, in those days, travel was dangerous! — especially travelling alone. The countryside is full of wild animals and wild men, and so Jacob is using this rock to protect his back while he keeps uneasy watch for any attack from the front.

So he goes to sleep, and [12] he had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it, and [13] there above it stood the Lord.

Now: what a strange dream! Jacob sees a stairway stretching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down: how very random!

And confusing for many of us, because we think, “Why do angels need stairs? Aren’t they some sort of spiritual super-beings who can fly around the universe at will?”

Well…hmmmmm. To answer that question, really we need to look carefully at how Moses describes this stairway…and then we need to look backwards in Genesis to see if there is anything else in the book that Moses has described in a similar way.

So, step 1: how is this stairway described? It is resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and there are spiritual beings using it as a sort of highway between the earth and God.

Now, step 2: is there any other object in Genesis that Moses describes as having its foot resting on the earth, and its top reaching the heavens? — an object that was designed to connect the heavenly, spiritual world with the earthly, physical world?

And there is: the Tower of Babel. The City of Babylon, the Gate of the Gods. If you were with us back when we studied that passage together, you will remember that the Tower of Babel was designed and built to look like a mountain: it was a pyramid with stairways running up the sides and a temple at the top, a house for the gods. The whole thing was designed as a connecting point between earth and heaven, so that men could climb up to the level of the gods, and bring the gods down to the level of earth.

And we have to remember that Jacob’s grandfather Abraham grew up in the east, worshiping at those man-made sacred mountains. In fact, they are still there, in the deserts of Iraq. Abraham would have grown up believing that those pyramids were gateways to heaven, and that gods and angels travelled those stairs. And no doubt Abraham told Isaac about these things, and Isaac told his sons. So this stairway to heaven that Jacob is seeing in his dream has deep connections to his own ancestral memories.

Do angels actually need stairs?

No. God has simply given Jacob a dream using an image that Jacob can understand, in order to give Jacob a particular message.

So now we have to ask: what is the message God is trying to tell Jacob?

Well, in essence, God is saying this: “Hey, Jacob, do you remember the Tower of Babel, that false ‘Gate of the Gods’ way over there in the east? I know you are travelling that way now, you are going to see these false ‘gateways’ for yourself, and you might be tempted to believe in those false gods and worship in those false temples. So I want you to know that, actually, this place, right here, is the true Gate of Heaven.”

See, the people who built the Tower of Babel thought they could reach up to heaven and take the gods’ blessing and protection for themselves. And so far in Jacob’s life, he has also been the kind of man who believes he can reach out and take God’s blessing and protection for himself.

So the message God is sending here is this: “You don’t come to me. You can’t! Instead, I come to you.“ It is impossible for earth to reach up to heaven. But it is possible for heaven to reach down to earth.

The people of the east called their capital city Babylon, The Gate of the Gods. They built stairs reaching up, with a house for the gods at the top, and they thought they could control the traffic between earth and heaven.

But God does not need mankind to build a stairway for him. He does not need mankind to build a house for him. And, what is even more important, he does not need mankind to tell him where and how to build a connecting point between earth and heaven.

And all this is basically what God tells Jacob next.

As Jacob’s dream continues, God says: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.”

God is telling Jacob, “This is my land. This is where I have chosen to build a connection between heaven and earth. This is where I am going to build my house: a house where I can come and live with my people. And you are my people! This is your land! This is where we are going to live together!

[14] “Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.”

And this is same set of promises that God once gave Abraham. So this confirms that Jacob is the son of God who is destined to inherit the covenant blessings from Isaac, who inherited them from Abraham.

The Lord goes on: [15] “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

And this also comforting news: even though Jacob is being driven out of God’s land, just as Adam and Eve were driven out of their Father’s garden, he is not losing God’s blessing and protection. God is going with him into the eastern wilderness, into the land of confusion, and he is going to bring Jacob back safely.

That was God’s message to Jacob. And Jacob gets it: [16] When he awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” [17] He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

Jacob is convinced. The gate of heaven is not over there in the land of Babylon, connected to some man-made stairway; the house of God is not over there on the top of some man-made mountain — it is right here in this “random place” where Jacob “accidentally” camped when night fell.

And, quite naturally, Jacob is afraid! just as we would be if we woke up in the middle of a highway.

Perhaps the closest analogy for us would be if, while you were driving home late at night through a blinding rainstorm, you got lost, crashed into something in the dark, hit your head and passed out — only to wake up a few hours later, surrounded by armed soldiers, who want to know why you crashed through the gate of the Istana Negara and parked your car in the middle of the courtyard.

Or, perhaps even worse, you wake up to find out you have driven through the wall of Masjid Jamek, and the people there are asking you, “Oh, your father’s mosque izzit?”

And so, [18] early the next morning Jacob took the stone he was sleeping against and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it.

Now: what is Jacob doing?

Well, we were wondering whether Jacob would learn to call on the name of the Lord when he is in trouble, or if he would build a city.

This is our answer: Jacob is building a city. He has set up this stone as a marker, as the first foundation stone of a new city, and he has anointed this stone with oil as a way of claiming this place as the Gate of Heaven.

And this sounds bad! Because so far in Genesis only bad men build cities. Only bad men claim to know where the Gate of the Gods is. And it is true that, so far, Jacob has been a pretty bad man.

But this is actually good. Not because Jacob is good, but because Jacob is establishing this city, this Gateway, in the right place, in the place of God’s choosing. Until this point in the Book of Genesis, every city mentioned has been built by men as an act of rebellion against God. This is first city in the Book of Genesis that is started as an act of submission to God.

And by this point, every reader wants to know: where is this place? This random place that Jacob stumbled upon in the dark, that has turned out to be the gateway to heaven: where is it?

Here is the answer: [19] He called that place Bethel — which means The House of God — though the city used to be called Luz.

And then we all say, “Bethel?” Where have we heard that name before?

And so we open our bible software, and we do a quick word search. And once we find it, we say, “Bethel! Of course! This makes perfect sense!”

Because the name “Bethel” was first mentioned way back in Chapter 12: right after Abraham arrived in the land, he travelled toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

This means that somewhere in this valley between these two cities — somewhere nearby Jacob’s “random” camp — there is an old pile of stones that his grandfather Abraham once set up as an altar, a marker, a monument claiming the land for God. And now Jacob has set up his own marker in the same valley.

But there is more: Bethel is also where Abraham was living when his adopted son Lot fought with him over the inheritance of the land. So this place is where Abraham experienced one of the darkest moments of his life: watching Lot reject the family and move away eastward to live in the corrupt city of Sodom. And so this is also the place where the Lord met Abraham and said, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth.”

Now, in that very same place, Jacob is also experiencing the darkest moment of his young life: rejected by his family, driven away eastward to live among the corrupted cities of Babylon. And the Lord has just met him and used the same set of words to bless him, “I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.”

Moses is showing us that God is in total control of this whole situation. Jacob looks like he is being driven away from God’s presence, but actually God is right there with him; Jacob looks like he is wandering at random, but actually God is guiding Jacob exactly into the footsteps of his grandfather Abraham: Abraham entered the land through this valley, and God promised to watch over him wherever he went; Jacob is leaving through the same valley, and God has just promised to watch over him wherever he goes. Abraham set up an altar and called on the name of the Lord when he arrived; now Jacob sets up a pillar as he leaves, and in Verse 20 he also calls on the name of the Lord:

[20] Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear [21] so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God [22] and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

We were wondering if Jacob would learn to call on the name of the Lord when he is in trouble, or if he would build a city.

And the answer is yes to both. Jacob is beginning to learn how to call upon the name of the Lord. He is in trouble, and now the Lord has met him in his trouble, just as the Lord once met Abraham when he was in trouble in this very same valley. So it is entirely proper now for Jacob to respond with this act of worship and with this vow, this promise that — when the Lord brings him safely back to this place — he will build a ”house” for God, and give him a tenth of everything he has been given.

…

Okay. That’s great.

But what does it mean?

Well, what Moses has just shown us, here, is one of the great turning points in God’s plan to draw all nations back into his presence. By this time in the story of Genesis, the sons of the serpent have been multiplying and expanding for hundreds of years: filling the world with their cities, claiming to open up new gateways to the gods — but now, for the first time since it was lost in the flood, the location of the true Gate of Heaven has been revealed, and the first foundation stone of God’s House, God’s Great City, has been laid.

And it turns out that the true Gate of the Gods is not over there in the land of Babylon, connected to some man-made stairway on a man-made mountain — it is here in the mountains of the land of Canaan.

What we are seeing here is the next step in the development of God’s land. Abraham arrived and built many altars, he dug wells and planted trees: he began the process of claiming the land for God. Isaac built only one altar that we know about, but he dug many more wells, and planted many more crops: so he expanded the claim that his father began. Now God has revealed to Jacob that this land is actually the House of God: this land is the connecting point between earth and heaven. And so now Jacob is starting the process of actually building on the land that his grandfather claimed for God.

…

Okay. So that’s what it means.

But what difference is this supposed to make in the lives of God’s people?

Well, Moses first wrote this down as an encouragement for his people, the ancient people of Israel. After centuries of slavery among the corrupted cities of Egypt, after 40 years of living in the open, without walls, in the eastern wilderness, the people were longing for a home, they were longing for walls, they were longing for cities of their own, where they could worship God in peace and safety.

So Moses wrote this to show them that the Land of Canaan itself is the great City of God, the great Garden of God. And Moses wanted his people to know that, after they cross the Jordan River and begin their climb into the mountains, they will find themselves passing through a valley between two cities: Bethel and Ai. And he wanted them to know that, when they passed through that valley, they would be passing back through the eastern gateway of the new garden of Eden, back into their Father’s House.

And this made a huge difference in the lives of God’s people!

After Moses died, Joshua did lead God’s people across the Jordan River. And after God destroyed the City of Jericho for them, the people proceeded into the mountains, where — sure enough — they came to a valley between two cities: Bethel and Ai. And it was there, in that valley, that they won their first great victory of the long war to reclaim their Father’s House. They reclaimed the gateway first; then they went on to reclaim the rest of the land.

And so the Land of Israel became the House of God, the City of God, the connecting point between earth and heaven, the gateway through which the blessings of heaven could be poured out upon the nations of the earth — thus fulfilling God’s promise to Jacob here: “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.”

In effect, the Land of Israel became one massive temple to the Lord, and the people became a nation of priests who would lead people from all the other nations back into the blessing of true fellowship with God.

And so the people of Israel finally entered into their rest, the garden-city we have been longing for ever since Adam and Eve. And they began the long work of bringing God’s blessings to the nations.

…

So: that is great for them, of course. But how is this supposed to be an encouragement for us?

Well…in order to understand that, really we need to hear the rest of the story.

Because, the thing is, the people of Israel actually failed to finish the job.

And really, this is no surprise. God had commissioned and built the perfect nation-city, governed by the perfect set of laws. But this did not solve the underlying problem: the serpent’s whispering voice. Even though the people of Israel were the children of God, their hearts were still tuned to that ancient temptation, that voice that whispers within all of us, that tells us we need to take care of ourselves first, that we need to reach out and take God’s blessing for ourselves.

To put it another way: the temple was perfect, but the worshipers and priests were not.

And so, in effect, what happened is that the children of God who were appointed to serve God’s House ended up taking over management for themselves. Instead of continuing the process of expanding the House to make room for all nations to enter…they turned their nation into yet another City of Babylon, a place where men could pull themselves up to the level of heaven, or drag God down to the level of earth.

And, the thing is, we would have done the same, if we had been there. We still do the same today! We take even our churches that are meant to bring life into the world and we turn them into our own private Babylons, where we accumulate power and prestige for ourselves…

And so the history of Israel’s failure in the Old Testament shows us that what mankind really needs is a perfect Gate of Heaven leading into a perfect Garden-City of God, managed by a perfect priest, a perfect Son of God.

But where and how are we going to find that?

How is this supposed to be an encouragement for us?

Where is our Good News here?

Well, here is the Good News, for us and for all people: this episode is not ultimately pointing to the Land of Israel as the final Garden-City of God, it is pointing beyond to something even greater. And we know this because of God’s message to Jacob here: “You don’t come to me! I come to you.“ It is impossible for an earthly city to reach up to heaven, even when that earthly city is the Land of Israel.

But God can build a heavenly city that reaches down to earth.

And he does.

He has.

And the hints of that heavenly city are already here, in Jacob’s experience, as he set up this foundation stone and anointed it with oil. Later on the in the Old Testament, the prophets picked up on this idea, and they began to talk about how, one day, one last true Son of God would be born who would actually be the foundation stone — the anointed cornerstone — upon which the rest of the gateway will be built. This Son of God would be the guardian at the gate, the Shepherd who drives out the hunters and the warriors and the city builders, and crushes the serpent’s head, and gathers God’s lost sheep in from every nation.

And, interestingly enough, about 2000 years ago a man name Jesus turned up in the wilderness on the eastern side of the Jordan River. And in the Gospel of John, Chapter 1, we are told that he actually claimed to be this cornerstone. While he was talking to a man name Nathanael, Jesus said this very interesting thing: “Very truly I tell you, Nathanael, one day you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending’ on me.”

Jesus was pointing back to this episode in Jacob’s life, and he was saying, “I am the stairway that Jacob saw. I am the gate. I am the connecting point between earth and heaven. If you want to enter God’s presence, you have to go through me.”

Now, very few listened to him, of course. In fact, his claims eventually got him arrested and executed. But three days later, when he came back to life, then people really began to listen! — especially people from the surrounding nations. They realized that Jesus embodied in himself the perfect life of faith, what it means to be the perfect Son of God. When the great City of Rome rose up to crush him, he did not raise an army and fight back; when the serpent tempted him to climb down from the cross and save himself, he refused. Instead, Jesus trusted perfectly in his Father’s provision and protection — even to death and beyond.

And so he passed the test. He proved that he was not going to use his power to build a city of his own. He proved that, when he got into trouble, he would call upon the name of the Lord alone for help. He was sent as a shepherd for God’s people, and he remained a shepherd to the very end.

And so, because of his obedience, God the Father raised him up and and anointed him King of God’s City, Priest of God’s House, Guardian of the gateway, and the Gateway himself.

So this is our Good News: Jesus has proven himself incorruptible. We are corruptible, we still hear the serpent whispering in our hearts, and if God’s House was left under our care we would quickly corrupt it and turn it back into Babylon. But we are not in charge of where and how heaven connects to earth: Jesus is. And he is the perfect King, the perfect Gateway. He does not take bribes, he does not need to be paid, he is not fooled by spies or other ambitious men who want to sneak in and seize power — he is perfect.

…

Okay. So that is encouraging.

But now we want to know: what should we do with this information?

Well, if you are here today, and you are thinking, “That sounds good, I would like to enter God’s City, but how do I ‘go through’ Jesus…?” this is how:

You study the evidence that Jesus really is who he said he was. You pray, and ask God to convince you that it is true. And when he does, then you speak to one of us here and ask to be baptized. Baptism is the ceremony at the gate where Jesus basically signs your citizenship papers and officially welcomes you into the City.

And that’s it. You’re in. And from that point on your life consists of learning what it means to be a good citizen, and discovering more and more the joys of what it means to live in a world without fear.

But I know someone is going to say, “Oh, but hang on: if it is so simple, and the benefits are so great, why isn’t everyone rushing to join?”

This is why: Jesus, who is the foundation stone of God’s gateway, is also a stumbling block that keeps people from getting in.

Huh?

Well, remember that a cornerstone, a foundation stone, is buried in the ground. People pass over the stone in order to pass through the gateway. This is a very humble position. So what this means is that Jesus occupies the highest position in the City, and the lowest position. He is the perfect King, but in God’s kingdom, being the perfect King means also being the perfect Gatekeeper. And gatekeepers die: gatekeepers are expected to lay down their lives at the gate to protect the city from invasion. Jesus the perfect King is Jesus the humble King, who submitted to death and burial in the ground at the very foundation of his Father’s City.

So when people approach God’s kingdom, God’s City, they look and they see that the great King is also the buried foundation stone that people walk over in order to enter.

And that’s no problem, right? One step, and then you’re in!

But then, after a little more reflection, people realize that if they are going to cross over that stone, the stone that is also the King, they are going to have to become humble like that stone, because citizens are expected to become like their King.

Basically, many people approach God’s heavenly City thinking that they will be able to live there in the same way they have lived in earthly cities. Then they realize that the heavenly City is actually the anti-Babylon. Every other city in the world lives according to Babylon’s values: every other city in the world rewards the ambitious who reach out and take what does not belong to them. But in God’s anti-Babylon, those who refuse to give up this kind of ambition get thrown out.

Actually, they don’t even get in. They try! Like all ambitious people, they recognize the obvious benefits of becoming a citizen of God’s heavenly City — but then, when they try to walk through the gateway, they stumble over the foundation stone and fall on their faces. They are humbled. And they don’t like it. So they turn around and leave.

That is why many people hear the Good News, study the evidence, understand it clearly — and still turn away: they do not want to learn how to call upon the name of the Lord when they get into trouble. They would much rather continue to call upon their own strength, and climb up the man-made mountains of Babylon.

But what about those of us who have already accepted Jesus as King and Cornerstone, who have already been baptized: what should we do with this information?

This is what we should do: rest.

We are inside. We have passed through the Gate of Heaven, and we are living in the House of God. We are safe.

But now I know some of you are going to say, “But I don’t feel very safe. I look around at the ambition and aggression of the world outside, the immense powers of Babylon compared to the weakness of Jesus’ Church, and I feel compelled to fight back!”

I know. We all feel that. From the beginning of the bible to the end, we see that the children of the serpent will always appear stronger than the children of God, and it will always make sense for us to fight back. But that is just another trick from the serpent: because, every time Christians in a society try to accumulate power so they can fight back against the corruption of that society, they are actually adopting Babylon’s values.

And when that happens, the results are always terrible: either the war drags on until no one can tell the difference between Babylon and the Church (since they are both using the same weapons anyway), or — even worse — the Church wins, and takes over that society by force, and simply replaces the old Babylon with a new “Christianized” Babylon.

Friends, we live within the walls of our Father’s House, his garden, his city. We are perfectly safe. But it does not look like it to the world or even to us. And so, in many respects, we are still just like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who lived in the open, without walls, trusting in God alone for protection and provision. Ours is a life of faith. And our faith does demand that we fight against the temptation to re-adopt the values and the tactics of Babylon. We are not going to win by going to war against the world, we are going to win by going to war against our own ambitions, our own desire to take control of the Gate for ourselves.

And now some of you are going to say, “Hey, I am convinced. I want to put down my fears and ambitions. I want to rest — but I am really struggling to do that. Does this mean that I have stumbled over Christ and I am not actually a Christian?”

No. Like Jacob, we are all born believing we need to take care of ourselves. But, if — like Jacob — we have been baptized into the family of God, then our Father is committed to teaching us how to call upon the name of the Lord when we get into trouble.

And as we are going to discover through the story of Jacob: this is a lesson that takes a lifetime to learn!

So if, like me, you often find it hard to rest in our Father’s presence, do this: remember that we do not lift ourselves up to God, he comes down to us. We do not make plans to meet him, he makes plans to meet us. We do not build the stairway upward, he builds it downward.

And that stairway is Jesus Christ, the only true Son of God. So let us keep our eyes fixed upon him.