Are you more sensitive to God's presence?

There is no shortage of people interested in sensing God's presence. Scores of people write about it, talk about it and think about it. But how do we begin to understand the subject?

The Bible offers several different ways where God’s presence can be seen and experienced:

God is everywhere or omnipresent. Psalm 139 makes clear that there is nothing in our lives that he is unaware of or unconcerned about.

God’s fullest expression is seen in Jesus. Matthew 1:23 reminds us that Jesus was called Immanuel, which means God with us. If you really want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.

God’s Spirit indwells His children. John 14:16-17 reminds us that all people who have received salvation through Jesus have the Holy Spirit in their life guiding, directing and transforming.

God’s presence is seen in His work. Look at all the miracle stories in the Bible. When God shows up in miraculous ways people notice. Also, when God’s Spirit clearly rests on a person, people notice that He is present (Acts 11:21).

God’s eternal presence. The Bible is clear in passages like Revelation 21:3 that God will be most fully present with us in Heaven and that the opposite of that is in Hell, the place where He is fully absent. (Whitney 58-59)

What is important to notice here is that in every instance God chooses to reveal Himself. There is nothing that we can ever do to deserve God's presence in our lives. There is certainly nothing we can do to demand it. He is present only as a result of His love for us and His desire to be in relationship with us.

There is one other important piece to remember. God never contradicts His Word. He will never ask us to do something contradictory to what the Bible says. We won't be encouraged to cheat on our taxes in order to have more money to share with the poor. We won't be asked to to treat others in an ungodly way even if our goal is a Godly one. None of that lines up with His Word and, therefore, God is not present in it.

Instead, as we follow God and are open to His Holy Spirit, He works in and through us and we can sense Him all the time. We can develop "eyes to see and ears to hear" what God is doing and the heart and mind to respond.

How do you make sure to tell what is a sign of God's presence and what isn't?


How do you respond to His presence in your life?