EVERYWHERE

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Romans 8:27 NIV

What’s your favorite Scripture passage?  How often have I been asked that?  I really couldn’t tell you.  I’ve answered the question differently numerous times.  It mostly has to do with where I am in life.  I think for the part of life’s journey I’m on now I’d list Psalm 139.  I love what I believe I learn about God from this passage. 

As a man, I am often confronted with my limitations.  I find that I can only do so much in any given situation.  I can only jump so high, run so fast, hit so hard – I have limits.  If ever it was my goal to hide those limits from others, I gave up on it a long time ago.  Yet, I still find myself groaning over the admission.  I don’t like be limited.  I don’t like knowing that after I’ve given my all, the task requires another mile of journeying I am incapable of completing.  I like the idea that I am able to get the job done.  I know full well that that is unbiblical.  But I’m a man; and it isn’t simply about being stubbornly in control.  It’s also about the responsibilities I see placed before me.  I’ve been called to be provider, protector and teacher for three young souls.  I’m called to be the husband (with all that entails) to my wife.  I have responsibilities.  And I often feel far from “up to the task”. 

That brings me back to my current favorite passage of Scripture.  I believe that with the devotional value of reading through God’s word; and along with the beauty and peace found from reading the psalms as liturgy; God is also glimpsing deep theological truths in these passages as well.  That along with all the joy of unbridled worship found in the song aspect of the psalms there is weighty teaching coupled with it.  This is akin to the idea of worshiping in Spirit and Truth.  If you would, please take a moment and peruse this beautiful set of verses, particularly the first twelve:

¹ You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

I don’t know where to even begin.  The fact that I feel so finite and that my God ISN’T is one of the most comforting truths I know.  The concept of omnipresence is not lost on me.  Its benefits seem endless.  I believe the believer gets an intimate look into this aspect of our God in this passage.  Starting with the last verses first – verses seven through twelve, the reader sees that there is literally nowhere a person can go that God’s presence is excluded.  I can think of numerous times in my day that being able to be in more than one place at once would be beneficial.  But more importantly, I could list endlessly the ways it is crucial that my God be with ME throughout my entire day!  I know you need him too, so I’m glad that he is available for us all simultaneously.  I’m just going to be honest, if it came down to me and anyone else competing for God’s time, I’d choose me!  It’s a great joy to know that we don’t have to wonder if God has time for us individually since he has made himself available to all of us always. 

This is where we say Selah or something. 

The description of God’s presence doesn’t stop with where he is, but also what he is able to observe.  Even if I could be more than one place at once, I can’t see in the dark!  But God is described as one to whom the “darkness is as light”.  One of the reasons this is so important is because so much of the “bad” in this life happens, or is attempted, when people think no one can see them.  The cover of night is often used to perpetrate wrongdoing because of the conceived elusion the darkness provides.  I remember a terrible TV movie from the 80’s called I-man.  No, it had nothing to do with Steve Jobs.  It starred Scott Bakula; and it was about a guy who got exposed to some gas that made him invincible, hence the “I” of I-man.  He healed like Wolverine and had super strength like the Hulk.  But he had one flaw, he was allergic to the dark – the movie described it as the absence of light. He would die if he was in the dark for too long.  It is the most literal personification of our human instinct to fear dark that I can think of right now.  I can think of times I thought I might die if I had to stay in the dark for an extended period.  If you have a chance to look the film up sometime – DON’T!  But while I do have mine own healthy fear of the dark due to my inability to see or function in it, I don’t have to fear it irrationally.  There is no such thing as darkness to our God.  How awesome is that?!

And still God’s omnipresence has another layer.  He is not only present everywhere in our world, but in our hearts and souls as well.  One could describe omniscience as a sort of omnipresence.  He knows every thought in my head because he is ever present in my soul.  Such knowledge is truly too wonderful for me and too lofty for me to attain.  Every careless word that escapes my lips was said with his full awareness.  Even when I don’t voice that careless thought God knew it was in my heart.  Perhaps self-control and discretion would be better described as God’s gracious restraining of the thoughts that enter our heads that should never be given utterance. 

In a time where I’m constantly reminded that what is needed of me is well beyond what I’m able to provide, this passage is sometimes the only way I don’t despair.  God is constantly reminding me that it isn’t for me to be enough for the people and situations I’m called into.  It’s for me to see that really the only provision for these scenarios is God himself.  I’m just the hardware he chooses to use in accomplishing a part of the tasks.  It’s for me to glorify him before those I serve.  To praise him for his blessings in the midst of my inadequacies is my highest calling, to always be “at the ready”.

Father, I praise you for being everywhere!  You are fullness and I am empty without you.  Teach me to depend on your presence to provide for the responsibilities and callings in my life.  Nurture me as I strain to fulfill my role – often to my own detriment due to my lack of understanding – so that I will trust you to provide.  Comfort me in the darkness of this life, both the places I am led against my will and the places I willingly go when I know I shouldn’t.  I accept your correction and rebuke.  Thank you for being available to me at all times while being just as present for the world I’m called to witness your glory to.  It’s in your son’s holy and precious name I pray, Amen.

by stacy hildebrand

author's edit: Turns out Scott Bakula's character didn't have super strength, just the healing power.  Want to be accurate.  :)