“Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from Your presence?  If  I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.”   Psalms 139:7-8

Some years ago, a Christian pastor went to India, and there he saw Hindu worshipers tapping on trees and rocks, asking if the gods they believed in were present:  “Are you there?  Are you there?”  The subject came up in my Bible study group this week and we had the opportunity to clarify some thoughts on the omnipresence of God.

A young woman asked how God can be everywhere at once and meeting the needs of each person in the entire world.  It is so difficult for our human minds to grasp the fact that God is not limited to time and space!  We think of daily schedules by the clock and our little corner of the world as our own personal space.  Another question was asked:  “When we get to heaven will we be able to talk to Jesus anytime we want, or will we have to wait in line and share Him with others?”

“Omni” means “all,” and “present” means “here.”  God is always here, God is everywhere!  What an awesome truth to wrap our limited minds around!  David asks the question, “Where can I flee from Your presence….If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me.”  Psalm 139:9-10.  We cannot escape God’s presence, it encompasses all:  from east to west; from high to low; fly as high as the heavens; go as low as hell; travel at the speed of light from the rising sun to its setting; God is right there with you!  He is omnipresent!  My husband traveled for his job, often flying to distant countries.  This verse was a comfort to me, knowing he was always in God’s loving hands.  Everything we do is done in the presence of God; like a fish lives his whole life surrounded and enclosed by water, so we move and have our being constantly in the presence of God!  If we as believers lived with that conscious realization, would it make a difference in our speech, our actions and where we spend our leisure time?

J.I Packer wrote:  “God is not a body—therefore, He is free from all limitations of space and distance; and is omnipresent.  God has no parts—His personality, powers and qualities are perfectly integrated, so nothing in Him alters.”

Charles Ryrie wrote:  “Omnipresence means that God is everywhere present with His whole being at all times.  No one can escape from the presence of God.  His omnipresence is unlimited by space, unaffected by speed and can see in the darkness.”

When Jesus came to earth, took on a human form and was born in a stable, He was also with the Father in heaven!  How do we understand such a God?  His thoughts and actions are so far above our thoughts, we can’t comprehend them!  It’s would be like an insect trying to understand the thoughts of a man!  So the answer to my young friend’s question about whether we will have to share Jesus in heaven, the answer is “NO!”  He will be with each one of us at all times.  He has promised to never leave us or forsake us!

Your friend, Jean