Hey friends, I'm Rachel Grohl and I'm your host for the Hearing Jesus podcast, where I help you to know God and to make him known.

Sometimes when we get through moments of struggle, especially when those moments have lasted for a season, there's this relief that comes and also this realization that God had been with us every step of the way.

That's the moment that we're experiencing today in Jacob's story in Genesis 33.

After years of tension and deception and conflict with his brother Esau,

Jacob is finally moving towards a place of peace and resolution.

We talked about the reunion yesterday,

but it's not just about the reunion. It's about what happens next. As Jacob is settling into his new life, he builds an altar, which is a tangible sign of his relationship with God. And it's a symbol

of gratitude and acknowledging that it was God who was faithful and present in his

entire journey. For us today, Jacob's decision to build an altar is kind of a weird idea because

we don't do that in our culture. But really what it is is it's a reminder that God's presence

isn't something that's just to be acknowledged in these

big grand moments, but to be remembered in the everyday details of our lives.

How often do we stop and take time to worship in the middle of our day?

Or just acknowledge God in those little moments.

This episode reminds us, just like Jacob did, to trust in God.

And yes, he was marking the beginning of a new chapter.

And that chapter was part of a deeper faith and gratitude and transformation.

But there's this invitation for us to reflect on how we can make worship a priority in our lives every day.

Not just when things are hard, not when God just answers this big grand prayer, but when we're in the seasons

of everything going okay, recognizing that God is in the every day. Today I'm reading Genesis

33 versus 12 through 20, and I'm going to be reading from the NIV.

And as I read, I really want you to reflect on Jacob's decision to settle into the land and to build an altar.

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