Omnipresence

Do you believe in the omnipresence of God? The idea that He is present everywhere at all times?

My answer to these questions would be, yes. If your answer is yes, do you live in the reality of this understanding? I was listening to a song the other day and it said, "In the silence you are there." So often, we as Christians limit the "omnipresence" of God by thinking He is only there to meet with us in the silence. Yes, the Bible says, "be still and know that I am God" and there is great value in being able to set aside time and be alone with God, but are we limiting our growth in Christianity by not allowing God to be omnipresent in our everyday struggles?

I have had several conversations over the last couple months where people have stated that they haven't had time to be alone with God, devotions are hard, they feel distant from Him. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, He lives inside of you (fact). He is constantly knocking at the door and asking you to let Him in. Sure He would like face to face time, but He is able to help in any instant and guess what ~ if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. I believe we are the ones who limit ourselves to this benefit by defining it as only happening when we have 30 minutes to sit alone in the stillness of the day (not much of a reality for many of us is it?). I truly believe God wants to speak to us as we go about the dailyness of our lives ~ while we are doing the dishes, driving the car, putting on our shoes, doing the wash, splitting up fights, grocery shopping and more.

If you were inside my head, you would probably think I was crazy most of the time because I am constantly chatting with God. I was going to the grocery store the other day and thinking of something I had to make. I realized I completely forgot to write down one of the main ingredients. I was "reminded" on the way to the store to get that item. "Thank you God, for reminding me!" I really need to write this down but I was driving so I told myself to be sure to write it down when I stopped. Well, I forgot to write it down. If it's not on the list, it doesn't get purchased for sure. So we (the kids and I) were strolling down an aisle, with two kids falling out of the cart. I didn't really need to be down the aisle and I was stopped looking at the other side (not paying any attention to what was behind me). I felt prompted to turn around so I did and guess what ~ there was the item I didn't write down, staring right at me. All I could do was laugh and say "Thank you God, you knew I was going to forget, didn't you!" And He said, "Yes" and we laughed. I would have totally forgotten without His help (I already had forgotten 3 times).

Now the cynics in the group might say, "I have this major problem in my life, and God takes time to remind you about a missing ingredient in a recipe. Whatever!" This is a valid point. My response would be that we are always looking for God to show up in the big things, that we end up missing all the little things He does everyday. If we can't even recognize and praise Him in the everyday little things, how do we know we will recognize Him when He shows up in the big things? How do you stay in love with someone? By all the "Big moments" ~ the roses, taking you out for dinner, etc or is it in the little things they do? The fact that they recognize you are having a bad day by the tone of your voice, that they stick with you when you are at your worst, that they are faithful to laugh, cry, and just be with you everyday? I would venture to say, it is the little everyday things of life that cause us to truly get to "know and love" someone and that is just who and where God is able to show up. Start looking for Him in the small things and I guarantee it will be a lot easier for you to recognize His presence in the big things.

I leave you with this from Acts 17:24-31 (from The Message)
"The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn't live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn't take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don't make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn't play hide-and-seek with us. He's not remote; he's near. We LIVE and MOVE in him, can't get away from him! One of your poets said it well: 'We're the God-created.' Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn't make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it? 30-31"God overlooks it as long as you don't know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he's calling for a radical life-change.