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"I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go." Genesis 28:15

This is one of God's promises to Jacob. Jacob's life was far from perfect. He had tricked his brother and father and was now running for his life. Yet God still made this promise to Jacob. Read about Jacob's life: Genesis 25:22-34 MSG , Genesis 27 MSG.

This promise was not made exclusively to Jacob. God promised to be with and watch over many other people: Joseph, Genesis 48:21, Moses, Exodus 3:12, the Israelites while they were suffering as slaves in Egypt, Exodus 3:16, and while they traveled through the wilderness for forty years, Deuteronomy 2:7, and many others.

Neither is God's promise exclusive to characters of the Old Testament. The birth of Jesus Christ, God Himself, affirmed "God with us", Matthew 1:23. Even though Jesus is no longer present in person He promised that the Holy Spirit, again God Himself, would be with us continually, Matthew 28:20. This He explained before His death as: "Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you... the Spirit, who is with you and will keep on living in you. I won't leave you like orphans." John 14:16-18

If God is with us and watching over us, what does this look like? Jacob took God's involvement to be active, that God would be there in the everyday matters of life even in providing him with the necessities of food and clothing, Genesis 28:20. When life goes smoothly it is perhaps easier to believe that God is with us and watching over us. But when things go wrong, we can question God's whereabouts. Was God with the Israelites throughout their suffering in Egypt Exodus 2:23-24 or did He just eventually show up to help them? It may seem like the latter but when Jacob was considering leaving for Egypt with his family, who would grow in number to be the Israelites, God specifically told Jacob: "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt... I will go down to Egypt with you." Genesis 46:3-4 God promised He would be with them through everything! Therefore, during their slavery and hardship they could cry to God for help because He was there.

God has promised to accompany us in all of life both the mundane everyday details and the entire journey of our life, whether life is smooth or difficult, going well or falling apart - God is there all of the time. When God promised to be with Jacob, He was there with Jacob, even though Jacob's life was at times a shambles. By promising to be with us and watch over us, God is saying: "I will go down with you to _____________" (fill in the blank with your own journey.)