Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), behold, You are there. 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 take hold of me.

Psalm 139:7-10

The eternal nature of God-past, present, and future- is clearly revealed by todays passage in Psalm 139. In beautiful and powerful poetic language, David explains that God is omnipresent. God is never bound by the limits of time and space like those experienced by mere mortals.

We will never experience a moment or a place in our lives where God is not present in Spirit. When we are on the mountaintop of exhilaration, God is present in our joy. When we suffer in the valley of depression and isolate ourselves in the dark of despair,God is there as a light in our darkness. When we enjoy our greatest success, God rejoices with us. When our failures overwhelm our senses, He is there to bring equilibrium back to our upside-down world. When we are alone and indulge in the sin roar besets us, God is there too. God’s presence brings either comfort or discomfort, depending on our actions and reactions to the pull of His ever-present Spirit.

Zig Ziglar

When you feel lonely, when you feel unwanted, when you feel sick and forgotten, remember you are precious to Him.

Mother Teresa

It ought to be comforting to us to know that we are never out of sight of God. The songwriter penned those powerful words that says, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches over me.” That’s this promise of God. No matter where we are or what’s going on in our lives or all around us we are always under the watchful eye of our Father.

David is not indicating that we are trying to elude God or hide ourselves from Him as though He is some kind of a busybody or a stalker. David is really talking about how a caring parent never lets a little child out of their sight. That parent wants the child to explore and enjoy the joy of life but in a protected environment. That parent realizes that the curiosity of the child may lead them into danger so they keep watch. That’s our God. No matter what comes, He never lets us face it by ourselves.

How often do we cry out in anguish the words of Jesus spoken from the cross: “My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Have you ever considered that God and Christ experienced that moment so that we might know that when we wonder where God is in our trouble we find a Savior who was forsaken so we might never be forgotten?

In the Gospels we read of a time when Jesus put the disciples in a boat and told them to cross over the Sea of Galilee to the other side. They started on their way and Jesus went up the mountain to pray. And then the storm hit with fierce winds and mighty waves and it seemed that the boat would capsize. Now here’s my favorite part:

“Jesus immediately insisted that His disciples get into the boat and go ahead [of Him] to the other side to Bethsaida, while He was dismissing the crowd. And after He said goodbye to them, He went to the mountain to pray. Now when evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and Jesus was alone on the land. Seeing the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night (3:00-6:00 a.m.) He came to them, walking on the sea. And [acted as if] He intended to pass by them.”

Mark 6:45-48

Read the bold again. Although Jesus wasn’t in the boat and although He was away from the disciples on the mountain, He saw them in the storm. And He came to them. He did this while here on earth in a human body. Now if that’s the way He operated while on earth, how much more does He see from heavens throne and if He came to the disciples on the sea in the midst of a violent storm and brought peace and safety, how much more will He now that He has overcome sin, death, and the grave.

I hope whatever you’re going through today, you will know that God sees you and that He cares for you. Even if you’ve failed and you know that nothing is hid from Him, remember He chose to offer you forgiveness even while you were sinning. So wherever you are, why don’t you just run home. There are no surprises to God, nothing that is hid or unknown so you can know that nothing He sees will ever convince Him to cease loving you.

I pray that if you’re reading this you will take comfort in knowing that God is with you. Here is His promise:

“….for He has said, “ I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!”

Hebrews 13:5

Dr. John Thompson