Bethel

And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. – Genesis 28v19-21

Up until this point Jacob had not been a paragon of virtue. He had lived up to his tricky name. But then Jacob came to Luz where he finally met with God. He laid out a rock for a pillow (ouch) and fell asleep. In a dream God came to him and reminded me of who He was and His promise to Jacob. When God and Jacob were done Jacob called the place the House of God and used the stone he slept on to commemorate the event.

Several years ago some things happened that made me very discouraged in the ministry in Naas. I was having some physical problems and we had some serious setbacks in the church work. I was fed up and I went for a walk on the canal to clear my head. The longer I walked the angrier I got at God so when I got to this bench I sat down to have a chat with Him and sort Him out. I had had enough and I wanted out. Guess who got sorted out before we got done :)? I knew then that we could not leave this place.

The event was something like what happened to Jacob. Here are his words:

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." Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." 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!" Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.

God was not finished with the work He had started in this town. I had forgotten that He was in the place and I was so off track that I didn't even know it.

I didn’t have a rock, but I do have a photo of that bench. This place (even the cheap imitation bench that is there now) is my own personal Bethel. I have this photo on my desktop and have a photo on my wall. I use it to remind me of the fact that God is in the place and to hopefully keep me from forgetting it again.

May we never, ever, no matter what, forget our Bethels.