Are We There Yet?

Are we there yet?

As a mother of two boys, this is something that I hear almost every time we get in the car whether we are going down the street or six hours away.  “Are we there yet?” “When will we be there?” “How much longer?” With the car going full speed in the middle of the highway sometimes the answer they get in return is a plain “yes”.  I’ve adapted this “Mommy” tactic to throw them off and to give myself a few minutes of unquestioned freedom. The Bible gives us great examples of “Are we there yet?” moments, some may call them “in the meantime” seasons. 

In Genesis 28, we read of a boy named Jacob. Jacob was the youngest of two boys and was a prankster his entire life. He came out of the womb riding the coat tail of his brother Esau, no literally he was grabbing on to his ankles.  His family was from Beersheba in a pretty well part of town. Esau and Jacob had made a deal with each other for Esau’s birth right. Not long after that their father, Isaac, was getting older and could not see very well. So, Jacob deceived his father into thinking he was Esau and Jacob received Esau’s blessing as well. Jacob fled Beersheba in fear of Esau and started off to Harran.

“Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went to Harran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took stones of that place to sleep.”          (Genesis 28:10-11)

It’s in this certain place, as the Bible refers to, that we read of a dream that forever changed Jacob. Most of us at one time or another have found ourselves in a certain place, a place that’s not where we came from but not where we are going, a spot where we pull out our GPS only to find, “No Service” written across it. It is in these moments we want to look at the heavens and ask God those very words… “Are we there yet?” Some of us have been in that certain place for days, weeks, months and even years. We must first recognize our certain place and know that these are the times that our faith grows more rapidly and stronger than ever before. We are transformed in these certain places of our lives by God’s grace and mercy.  It is where our hope escalates to new levels. The enemy wants nothing more than for you to sleep through those certain places.  In Romans 12:2, the Lord speaks to us regarding a renewing that we must all go through “2 do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

 We later read that Jacob took stones of his certain place to use as pillows. I am sure Posturepedic is nowhere near using a stone from Harran as their new and improved pillow but this too teaches us something about our certain place. See a stone is incredibly hard, most stones are even hard to pick up and for you and I…. we would never even consider a stone as a pillow. However, we must carefully examine the stones that we are dealing with in the meantime and be sure we get all the potential out of them we can, we never know what we can make out of a “stone”.

Most importantly, as we travel on our journey wherever it may be we constantly must seek the Lord and eagerly crave an encounter with our maker. During that night, Jacob had an encounter: “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.

13 There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "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. 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. 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." (Genesis 29:12-15)

The proclamation that the Lord declares over Jacob through his dream is amazing. Remembering that Jacob from birth was not much of a rule follower and hardly deserved anything, the Lord continued to shower him with mercy and grace even in his “certain place”.

So, the next time you are in a place that you feel like asking “Are we there yet?”  Remember to stay awake, maximize the potential of your stones, and know He will always answer you with          “Yes…….I am here now”. Rest in His presence and dwell in His house. *

“I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD watches over you-- the LORD is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over your life; 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121

*Inspired by a teaching of Priscilla Shirer

 Ashley McDougal
Ashley is the Children's pastor for 3N1 Church in Virginia. Her passion is to see the Church being Christ's Church consistently no matter where they are and of course Children!! For more info on 3N1 you can check out their website at http://3n1church.com.