The Comfort of God’s Presence

Early Monday morning, I sat in an empty airport concourse, finishing up my time with God, which had been cut short by the rush to get to the airport on time. I fished my Bible out of my bag and flipped to a passage that God had brought to mind when I first woke up.

As I woke up, I had found myself praying, Lord, I need Your presence. I had hardly begun my day, but was already keenly feeling the truth of Christ’s statement in John 15:5

“Without Me, ye can do nothing,”

As I prayed, the Holy Spirit brought this passage to my mind:

“Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee.” (Psalm 139:7-12)

I was comforted by the reminder that there is nowhere I can go that God has not already been. The truth of His omnipresence, or being present everywhere at once, means that I have God’s presence wherever I go. Anyone who has accepted Christ’s gift of salvation has God the Holy Spirit dwelling inside them. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Comforter (John 16:7) Galatians 4 puts it this way:

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son: and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (v. 4-7)

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a key part of what gives us freedom in Christ. Having grown up in church, the omnipresence of God is something I know well, but sometimes I fail to experience its reality. Why? Sometimes it is because I forget, sometimes, because I get my focus onto other things. But God’s presence is always there, regardless of whether or not I feel like it.

Hebrews 13:5-6 gives us another precious truth about God’s presence:

“Let your conversation be without coveteousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

God promises here never to leave or forsake us. That word forsake is not one we use very often, but it has the idea of deserting or abandoning. Because of God’s promise that His presence will neither leave nor abandon us, we can be content with what He provides, and we never have to fear man.

Isn’t that a freeing thought?

It reminds me of a book I recently read: The Hiding Place is Corrie Ten Boom’s life story, including her experience with the Nazi occupation of Holland during the Second World War and her time in a concentration camp. At one point, she and her sister, Betsy, are moved to a new camp and quickly realize that the place they were to sleep was crawling with fleas! Corrie fell into complaining, but Betsy told her she knew exactly what they could do about the situation: give thanks.

Corrie was astonished! Give thanks? For what exactly? Betsy reminded her that God had said to give thanks in all things, and all things included all things—even fleas. So, Corrie reluctantly joined her sister in thanking God for the flea-infested room, taking it as from His hand. They later realized that the little extra freedom they enjoyed in that roomful of fleas was due to the fact that the guards refused to go inside, lest they be exposed to the fleas.

When we acknowledge God’s presence with us in our adversities as well as our joys, we can rest in the truth that He has promised to work all things together for our good. (Romans 8:28)

But if you are at all like me, you are probably more than a little prone to forget the presence of God and focus on the problems of life instead. I think that is why the passage containing the promise of God’s unchanging presence in Hebrews 13 is preceded by these verses in Hebrews 12:

“Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith: who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” (1-3)

Missing the presence of God? Look to Jesus, consider what He has done for you, and remember His promise to never leave or forsake you. Then, choose to live in the comfort of His presence—whether you feel like it or not, He is still there, and will never leave.

“Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalm 16:11)