How We Overlook The Most Important Thing
God is everywhere.
Everywhere.
In fact, the Psalmist said, if he were to make his bed in hell, God would still be there.
Indeed, God is everywhere. But, what we have to learn is that He is available anywhere. Because even though God is everywhere, we so often choose not to be aware of this truth or acknowledge his availability. The result of our distraction and hindered attentiveness is that we often do not sense this never-ending nearness of God.
Think about what James taught us in his book, chapter four, verse eight, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” But, wait a minute, if God is everywhere, isn’t he near already? Yes and no. The best way to explain it is that He is near us, but we are often not near Him.
In elementary school, I had a teacher who took roll each day. She went through her record book, calling every name. The names were in an alphabetical list that matched our seating. With students positioned in rows matching her roll’s order, she could have easily just looked at each line of students, took note of any empty chairs, and the roll call would have been complete. But, instead, she insisted on calling every student’s name, and there was an expectation for us to reply with a precise response, “Present.” You could not say, “Here.” Or, “Yeah.” Or, anything else for that matter. You had to say, “Present.” Why? Because she taught us, you can be in a room but still not in it; your body can be there but your head elsewhere. She wanted us to indeed be in the classroom. And, her daily rhythm demanded that we announce our intent to be “Present.”
God wants the same. He doesn’t just want to be near you; God wants you to be near Him. He wants you to engage with Him, interact, and dialogue with Him, as you invest your whole heart, mind, and soul.
Perhaps, you have been in a room with someone, and you tried to talk to them, but they kept staring off into space. You wanted this person’s attention, and you were present in the room. You were even grateful to be near them. But they would not reciprocate the nearness. They remained distracted, fooling with their phone or acting uninterested in anything you had to say. Supposing you have experienced this kind of behavior from someone, you have some semblance of understanding regarding how God feels when you refuse to engage Him. Keeping in mind, He is around you everywhere, but you’re not engaging with Him anywhere.
God wants to be near to you and have you near to him. Over and over again, you see it in the Bible. In the Garden, Tabernacle, and Temple, we see God’s attempts at nearness with humanity. And, never was this desire more on display than in the moment when the Son of God was made flesh and dwelt among us. So it can help us to realize, Jesus came with one agenda: restore that which man lost in the garden, God’s ability to walk with humanity.
Have you ever considered that God wants to walk with you, talk with you, and be near you?
There are some helpful steps that you can take to experience God’s nearness in your life. In this message, Three Ways to Experience More of God, I share three practical truths, and I believe it will assist you in your endeavor to embrace the nearness of God and feel His embrace in your own life. Towards the end of the message, using Scripture as the basis, I give a picture of what it will look like when this experience takes place in your life. I hope you will check it out. Here is the YouTube link: Three Ways to Experience More of God