Surely God Is Here: Finding Him in the in-between (Genesis 28:10–22)
- Allison Jones
- Feb 3
- 3 min read
BIG QUESTION FOR FEBRUARY:
What does it look like to find God in the in-between—before anything changes?
WHERE WE ARE IN THE STUDY
Week 1 of our February mini-study: “Surely God Is Here,” anchored in Genesis 28:10–22.
Most women don’t struggle to believe God is real.
We struggle to believe He is near when life is ordinary.
We know how to look for Him in the “big” places:
the answer, the breakthrough, the mountaintop.
But the in-between—waiting seasons, quiet seasons, repetitive days—can feel like spiritual blank space.
So let’s slow down with the text and ask:
What might we be missing in a story we think we already know?
Read Genesis 28:10–22 (NASB) in full here:
OBSERVATION (What does the passage say?)
Look closely at the flow of the narrative:
1) Jacob is traveling and stops for the night (ordinary, unplanned, in-between).
2) God initiates the encounter (the dream; the vision; the open heaven).
3) God speaks promise and presence over Jacob.
4) Jacob wakes, responds with reverence, and marks the moment.
5) Jacob makes a vow that takes faith out of theory and into life.
Notice the order: encounter → promise → response.
Jacob’s obedience is not the entrance fee. It’s the fruit.
INTERPRETATION (What does it mean in context?)
Jacob is not a polished hero in Genesis 28.
He is on the move. He is uncertain. He is carrying the complicated weight of his own story.
And yet God meets him—not at a shrine, not at an altar he built, not after he “got it together.”
God meets him on the road.
What might we be missing?
This story is not mainly about a ladder.
It’s about the God who is willing to come down into the in-between.
The in-between is not empty.
It is often where God does His most foundational work: establishing presence, building faith, clarifying identity, forming response.
ONE MISREAD CLARIFIER (correct a shallow reading)
Shallow reading: “I’ll feel close to God again when my life feels stable again.”
But the text shows the opposite movement: God meets Jacob before stability, before clarity, before arrival.
God’s nearness is not postponed until your circumstances improve—it’s often introduced right where you are.
APPLICATION (What do we do with it?)
If you’re in an in-between season, your most faithful move may not be “figure it out.”
Your most faithful move may be: pay attention.
Pay attention to:
- Where God might already be speaking through Scripture (not just feelings).
- What He is promising about His character (not your performance).
- What small response of obedience fits your actual life.
And because we’re women who love our Bibles and want to go deeper, let’s be specific:
the goal is not vague spirituality.
The goal is reverent awareness shaped by God’s Word.
SUPPORTING SCRIPTURE FOR THIS POST
- Psalm 139:7–10 (God’s presence)
- Exodus 3:1–5 (holy ground in ordinary work)
- Deuteronomy 31:8 (God goes with you)
- Isaiah 43:1–2 (God with you in waters/fire)
- Matthew 28:20 (Christ’s presence)
- James 4:8 (draw near)
DIAGNOSTIC QUESTION
Where have I been treating “ordinary” like evidence that God is absent?
5–10 MINUTE PRACTICE
“The in-between inventory” (7 minutes)
1) Write one sentence: “My current in-between is ________.”
2) Write one sentence: “If God is here too, it would change how I ________.”
3) Pray: “Lord, train my awareness. Make me faithful on the road.”
Choose one small “attention cue” for this month—a verse card at the sink, a journal in your bag, a morning coffee rhythm—and let it call you back to awareness instead of hurry.
Download the February freebie in The Lampstand newsletter this Sunday:
“Surely God Is Here — Prayer Guide + Memory Plan (Genesis 28:10–22)” So if you want the Sunday Lampstand emails that keep this study steady, sign up on the home page, scroll to the bottom, fill out the submission form, and check the newsletter box.
On Friday, we’ll go one layer deeper: what it looks like to notice God in ordinary mornings (and why this kind of attention strengthens our witness).
And this Sunday (2/8), we’ll start memorizing the passage together with our first chunk: Genesis 28:10–12.
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