The Comfort and Conviction of God's Presence

   There was this atheist professor who had quite a reputation around campus for challenging new students who seemed to be religious. He often relished the idea of challenging there faith and making them look foolish around their peers. 

    Well it was the first day of the fall semester and a brand new group of freshmen had arrived. One of these new freshmen just so happened to sit in the very front row of this professors class room and He unashamedly had his bible sitting in front of him on his desk.  

    As class began the professor gleefully smiled at the young man like a cat ready to pounce on its prey. The professor towered over the student as he asked this young man if he believed in a God. 

    The boy, a bit taken back, responded with a simple "Yes sir I do". The way the young man spoke the professor could tell he had grown up in a rural area and the professor thought that this would be far easier than he first thought. 

    The the professor picked up this young man's bible for the entire class to see and said "Young man, I will give you an "A" in this course if you can tell me where God is" 

    A hush fell on the entire classroom and everyone's eyes were on this young man. Quietly the young man got up and it would seem like the young man was heading out of the class room. However just as the professor thought that he had won, the young man stopped. He turned toward the teacher's desk and picked up teachers text book on biology. He lifted it up for the entire class to see and looked at the teacher as he said "Professor, I will gladly take an F in your class if you can show me in this book where God is not!" 

    That young man was on to something quite profound. He may not have had the degrees, or the knowledge of that professor. However He knew that God was not limited to one place. That young man understood that God is everywhere. He knew that there is not one place where you cannot find God. 

    As your reading this know that God is right there and at the same exact time God is with me wherever I happen to be. God is there when we are sleeping and at the same time He is on the other side of the globe where people are working. In the very depths of the ocean where no light can penetrate God is there. In the far reaches of universe and beyond God is there too.  God is not limited to one place or one location. In theology we say that God is Omnipresent which means that God is always present, wherever you go He is there. 

    There are several passages of scriptures that talk about the omnipresence of God.  Here are a just a few;

 “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good”- (Prov 15;3)

“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 the Grave, look you are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea. Even there your had will lead me and your right hand will lay hold of me.” – (Psalms 139:7-10)  

   This aspect of God's character should lead us to two positions. First it should cause us to be more aware of the things that we are doing in our lives. Secondly it should bring us comfort and security.

You might have heard it said "when the cat's away the mice will play". This has been played out time and time again. When the boss has taken a day off, that is typically the time the job performance starts to drop. When a substitute teacher is called in to teach a class, the students predominantly start to misbehave and do very little in way of actual learning. 

    When we fail to take into account that everywhere we go and everything we do God is right there it can cause us to be a little relaxed on how we live our lives. Some Christians can live this way. On Sunday they live one way, they try to portray themselves as godly individuals. Yet come Monday morning they are living a completely different way. What they fail to realize is the God that they worshiped on Sunday, is right there with them in the factory. 

    You see because God is everywhere at all times, you and I cannot get away with anything. He sees and knows all the sins we do. All the wicked things we say when no one else is around. He knows all the things we have done that if it was broadcast to the world we would be greatly ashamed. Now that can be a bit unsettling, and should cause us to be a little more concerned about how we are living our lives. 

    Yet there is an aspect of the omnipresence of God that can be comforting as well. To know that he is always there can be something that can bring encouragement to you and I as well.

    I remember one time when I was in grade school I had a bully who was always picking on me. I had tried to get him to stop but he just would not stop. So one day I decided enough was enough and I fought this kid who was two grades above me. As I was fighting him the group of kids was cheering me on. But all of a sudden the cheers stopped. I looked up and it was my father who had been watching all that time just making sure that I was ok. That gave me a great comfort. I knew that my father was there watching me, just in case I needed to be rescued.

    That is the kind of comfort that God gives us when we realize that he is right there with us. He is standing right beside us when everyone else in our lives have left us. He is there ready to help, ready to hear our prayers, ready to provide for our needs. When disappointment in our lives comes, He is right there with us ready to comfort us and mend our wounds. 

    So when we think about the Omnipresence of God, I hope you will be both comforted and convicted. Comforted when you feel alone, and convicted knowing you are never alone. May it be a opportunity for us to begin to watch more circumspectly how we live our lives and encourage us in those melancholy moments of abandonment and solitude.