Some years ago when I was teaching in a Christian school, we were having a staff and faculty meeting. One of the staff began testifying in that meeting about God’s blessings in the circumstances of his life over the last several weeks. He commented that everything that had transpired over the last several weeks was incredible, and it was obvious that God’s presence was with him each step of the way. However, as I sat in the meeting listening to him and reflecting on the last several weeks of my life, I had to ask if I believed God’s presence was with me, because it was some of the toughest times of my life. “Was God’s presence with me?” I asked.

Many in this world have asked these questions: “Where is God?” or “Where does He live?” Especially when hardships come we will ask such questions because we wonder why such hardship occurs. Have you ever wondered where God was when facing hardships? When David wrote Psalm 139, he was probably reflecting on such questions. Listen to Psalm 139:7-12.

“ Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.”

DEFINITION: When we speak about God’s nearness or presence, we mean He is present and active within nature, within human nature and in history. His presence is said to “fill the earth” (Jeremiah 23:23-24). There is no place where we can hide from His presence (Psalm 139:7-9).

Some have taken the idea of God’s presence to mean that God is within nature or God is nature. If that were true, then God’s work could only be seen through natural processes or natural law. Then people say, “I see God in everything,” meaning God is nature itself. This sounds good when looking at the beauty of nature, but when looking at the Tsunami of December 2004, nature can be rather ugly, bringing great harm and tragedy.

Let us look at how the Bible depicts the nearness or presence of God.

1. God being near or present in every place does not mean that God is spread out throughout the whole world, as though His love is in one place and His judgment and justice are in another. There is never a time when only part of God is present. We may hear the President speak on television, but though it seems he is present with us, yet only part of him is with us through the brief words of his address. Yet, God is everywhere present with His whole being at all times.

2. There is no distance between God’s presence and us. However, because God is everywhere present does not mean that people’s perceptions are the same. His presence is evident to some and not to others. There are some people who acknowledge God’s presence but do so out of spite, blaming Him for existing hardships or His lack of concern. Then there are others who do not acknowledge Him at all. But for those who experience the nearness of God, they do so by understanding His truth and walking by faith. We are told that someday all humans will know of God’s presence. However, for some this will mean they are separated from the favor and joy of His presence (Revelations 20:11-15).

· For the one who does not know God, it means eternal separation, literally from the face of God (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). Interestingly, the Greek word prosopon literally means being away from his “face” as though His presence was not acknowledged, while never away from His presence. In Revelations 14:10 is a similar thought, speaking of people being punished in the sight or presence of God. God’s presence is there though not favorable.

· We are also told there are times a Christian can feel as though they are separated from God’s presence. This can be a temporary separation of fellowship because of sin or unbelief (Isaiah 59:1-2; Hebrews 3:12-13).

APPLICATION: The Presence of God Experienced

1. There is no place beyond God for anything to exist because God’s presence is everywhere. In Acts 17:28 Paul states that all of life is understood to exist in God’s presence. Wherever we live, and in whatever times, God is our environment just as the sea is to the fish and the air is to the bird. The Patriarch Job understood God’s presence as literally sustaining all of life (Job 34:14,15). In 1 Corinthians 8:6-7 we are told that we exist for Him and through Him. In your daily routine of life, do you acknowledge that you live, work and move about in the presence of God Almighty? Without Him there would be no life at all.

2. There are different manifestations of God’s nearness or presence throughout life. Moses reminded the people that their drawing near to God was an awesome and fearful experience (Deuteronomy 5:22‑24). Elijah looked for God’s nearness in a spectacular event, but instead discovered God’s presence in a still small voice (1 Kings 19:4-10). The nearness of God’s presence is directly associated with God’s thoughts or the mind of God written to us in the Bible (Isaiah 55:6‑10). Our drawing near to God is equated to our hearing and obeying His truth revealed in His word. This is especially important when facing dark circumstances, when we are tempted to explain things from our own illuminations (Isaiah 50:10).

3. We will experience at times a perplexity of God’s nearness when He seems silent during hardships and suffering. In Psalms 11:4 the Psalmist said that “His eyelids test man…” When it seems that God closes His eyes to our difficult circumstances, it is a test for us. We see this throughout the Bible. When the disciples were caught in a storm in a boat and Jesus was with them but asleep (Luke 8:22‑25), they were in anguish and felt Jesus was unaware, until he awakened. Then remember Martha’s perplexity over Jesus’ absence to aid her brother Lazarus on his death bed (John.11:21). His seeming absences lead to an even greater demonstration of His presence, but nevertheless she did experience grief and distress. Imagine how dark and bleak the disciples’ perplexity was when Jesus closed His eyes in death and then was absent for three days prior to His resurrection. Then when Paul reflected on God’s presence at the end of his life, he said, “The Lord stood with me” (2 Timothy 4:17), and yet he also said that he had been perplexed at times in his circumstances (2 Corinthians.4:8-9). Lastly, one cannot miss the Psalmist’s perplexity when facing injustice (Psalm 73:27-28).

If you understand that God is present in every circumstance of life, then how are you responding to His presence? Has the current crisis of the airline industry made you more aware of God’s presence and your need to seek His presence daily, especially at work? Peter understood that living in God’s presence, especially during trials and suffering, meant that we should “humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand,” knowing He cares for us and that at the proper time He will lift us out of the circumstances (1 Peter 5:6-7).

Also, James reminds us that God is near to us at all times and in all circumstances, yet he still CALLS US TO DRAW NEAR TO HIM (James 4:8). It could be that you believe God is with you, but you do not seek His presence in daily details of life. One indication if you are seeking God’s presence or not is the extent of your prayer life (Psalm 33:18; 27:7‑10). Your praying in the details of life affirms that you are seeking His presence in the details of life. You also will experience God’s presence when seeking fellowship with other Christians (Hebrews 10:22-24). You may ask, “How can I experience God presence in my life?” Unlike religion, that tries to get humans to God, Christianity is about getting God to humans. This is evident in two ways. The first is the historical entrance of God into history in the person of Jesus Christ. He came to redeem us from our condition of sin and guilt and to save us by offering us forgiveness and life everlasting (Romans 8:31-33). This can only be received by faith or freely from our Lord. But secondly, His presence abides with us through the person of the Holy Spirit, who comes and dwells in us when we receive God’s salvation through faith (John 14:26; Ephesians 1:13-14). I trust you know His presence in both ways.

Over the last several weeks we have talked about Getting to Know God. I trust that through this study you will understand the Lord in a greater way. But even more so, my prayer is that you experience Him in the details of life. There is no greater joy and adventure in life than getting to know our Creator and Lord.