“God was in this place and I, I did not know."

~Genesis 28:16

In this week’s parshah, Vayetzei, we find Jacob the patriarch’s famous vision of the stairway to heaven, with angels ascending from and descending to earth. After fleeing for his life from his brother Esau, in his utter exhaustion, Jacob stops in the wilderness to rest for the night. When he awakes from his vision, he declares his surprise that God could be found in the place in the wilderness where he randomly chose to stop for the night. 

Jacob’s exclamation is a bit baffling. As one of the patriarchs, he was intimately familiar with God’s omnipresence. So, how could he be surprised that God was there when God is literally everywhere?!?

However, I do not think that Jacob was in fact surprised that God was there. He was shocked by his personal lack of awareness of how actively God was directing his life. We must remember that Jacob did not choose a specific spot to rest. He was running for his life and was utterly exhausted. He was frightened, cold and—in his mind—completely alone. In this state of mind, he put stones around his head to somehow protect himself from wild beasts (Rashi), which sounds to me like the actions of a distressed and desperate mind.

However, his vision reminded him that he was anything but alone, and that God was behind all of the troubles that he was going through. And the same is true for everything that we go through as well.

But not only that, the obstacles and difficult things that we face—God puts us in those situations to prepare us for a higher purpose. Something greater. Whether financial, physical, mental, social—whatever—God drags us through these dark places in order to bring us closer to our true, higher potential.

And guess what? Have you ever heard the cliché that “God does not give anyone more than they can handle”? Well, that isn’t a cliché! It is in fact a direct teaching from Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, a teaching found in the same passage where he told us that everything that God puts us through is for our own good (Likutei Etzot: Savlanut).

This is an important fact for all of us to keep in mind. Although we may feel alone, rejected, or like God has turned His metaphoric back on us, when we are being dragged through the mud—we have to remember that God is the One doing the dragging! And He is dragging us in order to uplift us to something greater. And it is during these times that we must keep in mind, like our ancestor Jacob, “God is in this place,” in this place and situation which I find myself, even though “I did not know.”

Sonia and I wish you a week where you see, feel, and accept God’s presence in every aspect of your life,

Rabbi Cody R. Bahir, Ph.D.