“Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God.“
Whenever I see commemoration of it being 50 years since 1969, I am brought back to the moonshot. Among many parts of the moonshot accomplishment was that when JFK put forward the vision and challenge of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade he didn’t stop there, he also said that we would bring them back to earth safely. With that one last part of the vision, he instilled humanity into the greatest technological feat to date. Imagine had he not? Maybe we still would have gone, but would we have cared as much about the return trip? How might those words that Neil Armstrong said been different? We will never know, because this innovation was done the right way. Where have we missed infusing humanity into what we are trying to accomplish?
Jacob didn’t test God, he just made his own commitment to God and returning home safely was a part of the deepening of that commitment. Today, we will go out into our workplaces and we will stand shoulder to shoulder with others who will test our faith and we might pray to God that He deliver us home safely today. And, that is a good prayer to pray. Not only Lord, deliver us home safely today, but continue to deliver us to your safe home, which we know you are preparing for us!
Reference: Genesis 28:20-22 (New Living Translation)