THE PRESENCE OF GOD

God does not live in a box: It is sometimes hard to see God’s will, to hear His still small voice, when our emotions are driving us down a path of desire. We are so accustomed to experiencing God’s presence during worship, His “worship presence”, that we fail to recognize the many other ways He demonstrates His presence. During these times we misread God’s “silence” as desertion, much as Job did. Job was overwhelmed by what he perceived to be God’s silence, not realizing that God has many ways to communicate to us. All of our God directed desires are evidence of God’s presence, for God puts into us everything He wants us to give back to Him - it’s the “putting in” that changes us. When we worship it’s God saying “love on Me”, when we pray it’s God saying “talk to Me”, when we hunger for more of Him it’s God saying “want Me more”, when we are burdened for others it’s God saying “love on them with My love”, and when we study His word it’s God saying “ask Me to teach you”. These desires are put into us by our loving Father and therefore are demonstrations of His abiding presence - for He has said He will never leave us or forsake us and will always be with us (Heb. 13:5). We don’t want to just believe for God’s presence, we want to believe in God’s presence, to see it, taste it, hear it, smell it and feel it – to recognize we are continually experiencing God’s presence. God’s presence is dotting the landscape of our lives like trees - we are truly surrounded by God. We must learn the discipline of stilling our self before God and listening, for He is always present -- always!