God is Always Present

by Nicole Cifuentes

Psalm 139: 7-12

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light becomes night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

God is Omni-present

If you have been following along in our devotionals you would have learned some important aspects of God’s character that leads us to His Omni-presence: God is Creator, God is Eternal, God is All powerful.

These parts of who God is work together is beautiful harmony. You can’t have one without the other.

Let’s look at what this big word “omnipresent” means:

Dictionary.com defines omnipresent as this:

... the quality of being everywhere. Omnipresent emphasizes in a lofty or dignified way the power, usually divine, of being present everywhere at the same time, as though all-enveloping: Divine law is omnipresent.

Did you catch all those qualities required? Here is it again with my emphasis

Omnipresent, ubiquitous refer to the quality of being everywhere. Omnipresent emphasizes in a lofty or dignified way the power (God is All Powerful), usually divine, of being present everywhere at the same time (God is Eternal), as though all-enveloping: Divine law is omnipresent.

Only a great, powerful being outside of time and space can be Omnipresent, and lucky for us the one being who is, is our loving God, not the one who is hell bent on making our lives miserable. He is everywhere so that He can spread His goodness, love, and kindness. He can find us and reach us even in our darkest places. While he may appear unseen, he is still there waiting to be seen.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.- Colossians 1:16-20

God’s Presence in My Life

For this is what the high and exalted One says- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.- Isaiah 57:15

God commits to coming into our lives to bring us back to him. Although He is God, the king of the universe and ruler of all, He wants to come down to earth and revive us.

This has been shown to me in many, many moments in my life. I have traveled the world and lived in multiples states and no matter where I go, I see God there. But the first real time I felt His presence was when I was a teenage girl. Being a human being is just plain hard, but being a teenager seems to be even harder. During those youthful years you struggle with raging hormones you don’t realize affect your mental state. You’re trying to find your place in this world, and struggling with deciding what the rest of your life is going to look like. (We adults know that doesn’t always work out to plan). It’s a vulnerable time when all you want is to fit in and be loved.

Well, true to a typical teenager, I struggled with the feeling of not belonging. It was a warm summer night, and I was at youth group. I had my group of “friends,” and we were all hanging out when this group of new “cool” guys came in. Immediately my “friends” got up and went straight to these new handsome humans leaving their pitiful friend to sit on a wall by herself. It had been a hard week of being picked on at school and now my one safe place at church felt unsafe and unloving. I felt more alone than I ever had in my life.

I remember looking over at my “friends” and crying. Then in my own private way, God’s presence wrapped His loving spirit around me. While the room was loud full of kickball, flirting, laughter, and chaos, my soul was being lifted into the presence of God. Even though I was physically alone, I know I was not really alone. His voice whispered into my head saying “I have never left you. I am here with you.” I got up from that wall changed.

This was my first encounter with the living presence of God. He has traveled with my from birth to birthing my first born. From learning to walk to hiking a mountain. He was there when I was in Africa and here in my small apartment in Wyoming. I could call my friends in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and all over and ask them: “Is God with you right now”. Their answer would surely be “YES!”

God and evil

If you have been in the faith for any amount of time, you might have heard someone say that God cannot be in the presence of evil. So how can he be omnipresent? How can he get to those living in evil?

I have recently asked this question myself. One of the main reasons I try so hard to “be good” was a subconscious belief that God could not be with me if I was evil. But God says he comes to the contrite and lowly. He allowed Satan in his presence in Job (Job 2:1). So, there must be something I am missing.

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.- Hebrews 4:13

There is a BIG difference between tolerating something to be in its presence and to be happy with the sinful behavior. God promises to be with his children always (Matt 28:20). He is with us and sees us always. And we don’t stop sinning even when we have belief in Him and his spirit invades our own (see 1 John 1:8-10). Even in the end times, God will judge all people no matter what state they are in (Romans 20:11-15). God’s ability to be everywhere is not hindered by good and evil. He is with all people till the end of time.

Conclusion:

God’s Presence is going to meet you where you are at. All day. Everyday. His ability to be everywhere is a GOOD THING because God loves us and wants to draw us to him.

For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. - Ezekiel 34:11

God is with you when you feel alone. He is with you when you celebrate and when you grieve. He is with you on a mundane day and on the best day of your life. He is with you when you are on a mountain or in the middle of the ocean. There is nowhere on this earth that God can’t and won’t find you. He is always near you, ready to listen and help you when you are ready to hear him.

Prayer:

Lord my God,

I thank you for always being near to me. You know when I sleep and when I rise. You know where I go and where I stay. I thank you for being with me always even when I do not want you here. You are the God of hope, the God of love, the God of patience, and the God of courage. You have my best at heart always and seek that best for me even when I might stray. I am grateful you go with me no matter where I go and you will guide my steps throughout my whole life. I open my heart to feel you today. To hear your voice and understand your heart. God I am ready to listen and feel.

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Hey sweet lady, we want to take a quick minute to guide your next steps with the scripture and application portion. We believe that in order to truly grow closer to God, we need to spend time dwelling on what he’s trying to teach us and not rush through it. We encourage you to spend a full week dwelling on this devotional and all it has to offer you. That means you can save some of the scripture passages for another day or re-read them in the week. We also encourage you to take your time with the application portion. You can sit in each prompt until you feel God revealing his truths to you. Don’t rush, take time to truly get to know him better by sitting in what he’s trying to teach you this week. That's where your faith will grow.

Scripture for Deeper Study:

• Job Chapters 38-42:6

• Hebrews 13:5

• Jeremiah 23

Application:

• Journal about a time you felt God’s presence in your life.

• Reflect on the times in your life you knew God was with you. Make a timeline of all the times God was with you and place it in an open area where you are reminded of how he is at work in your life.

• Take time to meditate and try to feel God with you each day. Create a specific time when you can sit in stillness just to feel him around you. Thank him for always being there for you.