Do You Question God's Presence?

One question that I often receive is, “How do find the presence of God when I do not feel the presence of God?”

One, this problem is a by-product of the Fall of Adam into sin. Genesis 3:8 says that they “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God.” Take note, this lack of presence resulted not because God turned His back on them but because, in their disobedience, they hid from Him. Many times, we do not feel God’s presence because we are the ones running from God. This running away, or ignoring Him, or hiding from Him, is not evidence that we are too weak, but, in actuality, it is evidence that we do not know how weak we really are (Paul Washer – Creating weakness in your life). Running, hiding, and ignoring are symptoms of modern man’s delusion that we can control anything about our lives.

Two, Psalm 105 speaks about the “active” seeking of God’s presence. In verses 1-5 alone we see, “Call upon His Name,” “Sing to Him,” “Glory IN His name,” “Seek the Lord,” and “Remember His wondrous works that He has done.” This is a direct 180 degrees action of Adam and Eve. We may want His presence, but are we really actively pursuing Him?

Three, and this is the grand secret Satan does not want you to hear, is that the Lord’s presence is ALWAYS near us. David in Psalm 139:7 ponders the wonder of this truth, “Where shall I go from your Sprit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence?” No matter how hard he tries to run, no matter the highest mountain or deepest part of the sea, God is there with him (Ps. 139:8-10). God’s presence does not depend on how we feel or how awesome our spiritual time, but His presence depends on the integral truth of our God who said through His Son, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).

Tim Keller said, “A sense of His absence is truly a sense of His presence, because without His presence we would not have any sense for Him at all.” Just because we do not feel God’s presence does not mean that God is not near, but rather it means that our heart longs for its original glory in the Lord in which we were created.

Spurgeon closed his sermon on this passage with these words: “Trust all thy concerns with Him Who never can be taken from thee, Who will never leave thee, and Who will never let thee leave Him, even ‘Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever.’ My Savior’s words, ‘Lo, I am with you always,’ is enough for my soul to live upon, even if all who are near forsake me.”

Praise the Lord for His constant nearness and never-ending grace!