God is Here

Scripture

 Psalm 139:1-18

¹ O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
² You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from far away.
³ You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ Even before a word is on my tongue,
    O Lord, you know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is so high that I cannot attain it.

⁷ Where can I go from your spirit?
    Or where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
    and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and night wraps itself around me,”
¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is as bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

¹³ For it was you who formed my inward parts;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
    Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
¹⁵     My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
    all the days that were formed for me,
    when none of them as yet existed.
¹⁷ How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
    I come to the end—I am still with you.  (NRSVUE)

 

Devotion

 I enjoy watching episodes of the TV show Lucifer on Netflix.  Over the course of the series, the title character (who has left hell to become a nightclub owner and police consultant in Los Angeles) and the rest of the cast work through an intriguing set of personal, familial, and theological issues about subjects like love, death, guilt, and freedom of choice.  At one point in the series, God physically comes to earth to spend time with  Lucifer and two other angels.  Lucifer logically knows that since the Almighty is omniscient and omnipresent, God is always watching his children in some sense.  Still, there is something about physically being able to see his father checking in on him that makes Lucifer extremely uncomfortable. 

As I watched the episode, I couldn't help but wonder how I would react if I could physically see or hear God with me every moment of every day.    Yes, I logically know that there is no running away from, hiding from, or becoming separated from God.  Still, the divine presence can be easy to forget or ignore when we do not have physical proof of it.  What, though, if I could see God standing at the edge of a birthday party or sitting in the back pew of the sanctuary on Sunday morning?  What if I could hear God speaking to me as I sat in traffic of got a whiff of frankincense every time I encountered someone in nee of help?   What if every time that painful parts of human existence felt like too much to bear, I physically felt God's arms wrapping me in a warm embrace?

In a perfect world, having physical confirmation of God's presence with us would make no difference in the way we live.  Still, I have a feeling that if I am a bit like Lucifer on the TV show.  If I could watch God watching me, I would probably feel pressured to act a little differently.  I would want to be kinder and more patient.  I would try listen to others more carefully and make more time for people.  I would cringe as all my mistakes and sins were put on display right in front of the Almighty.  And when it all became too much to deal with, I would probably try to run away...only to find that God was still present wherever I went.

I believe that though we may sometimes need and even demand a sign that God is with us, it is a blessing not be able to physically sense God's presence on a day-to-day basis.  Such a heavenly sight is too much for our minds to handle.  At the same time, our hearts can hold fast to the knowledge that while we may not pick him up with our 5 senses, God is here.  God is present in the joy and the pain.  God is here for our successes and our failures.  God is here in our moments of praise, our moments of anger, our moments of doubt, and everything in between.  God was here for us before we even aware that our lives had begun...and God will remain with us even after all that we know and understand comes to an end.  We will never be alone.  God is here for all of it.

Today, I invite you to consider the following question: How would you react if you could physically sense God with you at every moment of every day.  Are there questions you would ask or things you would do differently?  If so, perhaps those are areas of your life that you would like to begin addressing...not  because we fear judgement or being found out....but because God is already here to help us with them.  And with God already here and well acquainted with all our ways, we can trust that the Holy Spirit will help us grow ever closer to the people our good and faithful Creator intends us to be.

Prayer

Steadfast Creator, while my eyes may not behold your glory and my ears may not hear your voice, I know that you are here.  Help me to find comfort in your constant presence and grow into the person you created me to be.  And may that I do and say be to the glory of your Son Jesus Christ, our savior.  Amen.