God of the Return,
You called Jacob back
not to a new place,
but to the sacred ground where it all began.
Back to Bethel.
Back to the altar.
Back to the moment when grace
interrupted his running.
Lord, sometimes the next step
is actually a return.
Sometimes faith means
going back
to the place where I first heard You,
where I first believed You,
where I first surrendered.
You said, “Arise.”
So Jacob stood.
He told his household
“Put away your idols. Purify yourselves. Change your garments.”
Lord, let that be true of me too.
Help me to cleanse my heart
of what I’ve tolerated.
Help me to bury the idols I’ve hidden
the loves I’ve served instead of You.
Help me to rise,
to walk,
to worship again.
As Jacob journeyed,
You surrounded him with fear
not upon him,
but upon those around him.
Your presence protected
his obedience.
God, when I follow You,
Your presence becomes my refuge.
You shield me from harm
as I step toward holiness.
At Bethel, he built the altar.
And You appeared again.
You spoke his name.
You reminded him who he was
“No longer Jacob but Israel.”
You renamed him again.
Because sometimes,
we forget who we are.
Lord, remind me.
When I fall back into old fears,
old habits,
old names
call me forward again.
Say it again
Chosen. Redeemed. Beloved.
You restated the promise
nations, kings, descendants, land.
The same covenant You gave to Abraham and Isaac
You now gave to him,
again.
Even after failure.
Even after wandering.
You are the God
who keeps re speaking what we keep forgetting.
And yet grief came.
Deborah died.
Rachel died.
Isaac died.
Bethel didn’t protect him from pain
but it gave him an altar
to grieve at.
Lord, when loss comes,
help me return to worship,
not run from it.
Rachel’s final breath
became the first cry of Benjamin.
Sorrow and joy in the same moment.
Tears and new life intertwined.
You are the God
who lets me bury what is lost
and still believe in what is to come.
So I rise.
I bury my idols.
I gather my grief.
And I go back to Bethel.
Because You are still there.
You never left.
In the name of Jesus,
the promised Seed,
who meets us in every return,
and builds the altar with us
Amen.