After Jacob dreams of a ladder connecting heaven and earth, he vows: If God will be with me, and watch over me on the path I am walking, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and will bring me in peace back to my father’s house, then I will take YHWH as my God. (Gen 28: 20-21)
We know how it turns out: Jacob is clothed and fed — as an indentured servant to his father-in-law. He returns home — just in time to bury his father. God watches over him — through love, disappointment, anger, pride, fear, disability, shame and grief. Are Jacob’s expectations of God met?
What do you expect from God?
Last year, I asked many people this question. They answered, saying, “I expect…”
- Nothing
- Everything
- Justice
- A reliable natural order
- Strength to deal with life
- Recognition
- Knowledge of what God expects of me
In these answers, I heard so many different senses of who God is.
- Transcendent Other, who may or may not manifest
- Judge who balances the scales, maybe even in advance
- Creator, establishing laws of nature
- Coach
- Lover
- Moral teacher
In the Haftorah (prophetic reading) paired with Vayetze, the prophet Hosea assures us that this multiplicity is okay with God. Hosea quotes God as saying,
“I spoke to the prophets; I multiplied visions; through the hand of the prophets, I am described in metaphor.” (Hosea 12:11)
How many of these metaphors have spoken to you in your lifetime? How have your expectations evolved?
