Psalm 139:7-10 – “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, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me.”  NASU

I have used the phrase or made the declaration, “Wow!  God showed up this time.”  Did He?  Did He just suddenly show up as though He had been somewhere else?  Where was He previous to that moment in time?  What was He doing before that particular manifestation and demonstration of Himself?  I am quite serious! 

When we read about the experience of the early church in the upper room we think how wonderful it would be for God to show up like that again.  I am not trying to split hairs and speak in semantics but WHERE IS HE NOW?  Did not Jesus say in Matthew 18, “…where two or three are gathered in My name I am there in their midst”?   Did He not say, “Seek and you shall find”?  David in this Psalm identified that no matter where he turned God was there.  That theme is repeated time and again in Scripture so I must ask WHERE HAS GOD BEEN if He just SHOWED UP?

The problem is not God’s absence it is the lack of our willingness, determination and commitment to PRESS INTO HIS PRESENCE.  He never left and stands ready to manifest Himself anytime our hearts are open to His presence and lordship.  I had someone ask, “How frequently does God speak to His people?”  My response was, “He never stops but we do not always hear or listen.”  I see this, the same for God is ALWAYS PRESENT we are not always open and receptive to His presence.  The problem is not God’s absence it is our entrance into His presence.  Proverbs 15 declares that God’s eyes are in every place and if His eyes are there He is there.  Psalm 145:18 declares, “The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.”  David in Psalm 16:8 cried, “I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”  The problem is US.  The problem is the vessel.  If we open our vessel to the Holy Spirit HE IS THERE!

Paul asked in 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”  If He dwells IN us how can he not be where we are and when we are?  So, while I am not being critical of anyone saying that God showed up or wanting God to show up I know what they mean.  I am suggesting that we shift the focus from looking for God to show up to preparing our hearts for His presence.  I am totally convinced when we do we will realize His presence in a way never experienced before and on a frequency we have not known.

It is time for us, as believers, to begin asking, seeking and knocking and not being satisfied until we are AWARE of His presence.   May God be with you as you go through your day!