There are moments in life when things get overwhelming — the pressure mounts, plans fall apart, and pain seems to drown you .
Even when we can’t feel Him, even when circumstances shout otherwise — God is ever present. We simply need to see Him.
“And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.”
— Genesis 28:16 (KJV)
Jacob was running for his life when He saw the Lord in this bible verse — tired, guilty, and uncertain about his future, Alone in the wilderness, he lay down with a stone for a pillow and drifted to sleep. And then, God broke through his fear with a vision: a ladder stretching from earth to heaven, angels ascending and descending, and the Lord speaking promises of protection and destiny.
When Jacob woke up, he realized something profound: “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.”
It wasn’t that God had suddenly arrived. God had been there all along — Jacob simply hadn’t noticed.
Pressure moments can make us blind to God’s presence. The weight of responsibilities, financial strain, or emotional exhaustion can cloud our spiritual sight.
Being able to see God under pressure requires a deliberate decision. You must choose to say, “I will not let this situation define my view of God. I will look for Him in it.”
When your mind feels cluttered, take a pause and whisper, “Lord, I know You’re here.” That simple act of acknowledgment opens the eyes of your heart to see His hand even in what seems unbearable.
Chaos is loud — but so is our God when we listen differently. In the storm that terrified the disciples, Jesus was sleeping right beside them in the boat. They saw the waves, but not His nearness. When fear took over, they forgot Who was in control.
We do the same sometimes. We let anxiety, deadlines, and disappointments overshadow the reality of His presence. But when we shift our focus from the storm to the Savior, peace returns.
You can’t always calm the chaos around you — but you can choose not to let it silence your awareness of God.
Pain often blurs our vision, but it also refines it. In pain, we see God not as distant, but as deeply personal — the Comforter, the Healer, the One who never leaves.
Most times, He doesn’t take away the pain immediately because He’s using it to deepen our trust. In those moments, you must make a conscious choice: “I will still see You here, Lord. Nothing — not my tears, not my confusion, not my loss — will overshadow You.”
That’s faith. Not the absence of struggle, but the decision to see God above it.
Jacob turned his place of fear into a place of worship. The stone he slept on became a pillar of remembrance, and he called that place Bethel — “House of God.”
In the same way, when we learn to recognize God in hard places, our struggles become sanctuaries. What once felt empty begins to glow with divine purpose.
So today, choose to see Him. In the noise, in the confusion, in the silence. Decide that nothing will overshadow God in your life — not fear, not failure, not even pain.
Because the truth remains:
He was here all along.
And when your eyes finally open, like Jacob, you’ll whisper in awe —
“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.”