The Presence of God

"I'm here to meet with you
Come and meet with me
I'm here to find you
Reveal yourself to me

As I wait, you make me strong
As I long, draw me to your arms
As I stand and sing your praise
You come, you come and you fill this place
Won't you come, Won't you come and fill this place

I'm here to meet with you
Come and meet with me
I'm here to find you,
Reveal yourself to me

As I wait, you make me strong
As I long, draw me to your arms
As I stand and sing your praise
You come, you come and you fill this place
Won't you come, Won't you come and fill this place

I'm here to meet with you
Come and meet with me"

--"Meet With Me" by Ten Shekel Shirt (from the album: Much)

Earlier this week, I posted about how we have lost the "bigness" or transcendence of God. I want to balance that with some comments about the other side of God: His immanence. While we need to keep a fear of the Lord, a fear that would knock us down as though dead if we were to see Him, it's also important that we not make him so big that He wouldn't deign to come and be a part of our life.

One of the funny/ sad things about being an Army chaplain is the people that I work with, namely drill sergeants. Their language is, how shall we say, colorful? Their humor is broken into two camps: bathroom jokes and sex jokes. So, when the chaplain is in their area, needless to say, they are a little uncomfortable. Unavoidably, someone will drop some sort of expletive, look at me, and say, "Pardon me, chaplain." My response is this: "Yeah...because God is only watching when I am around."

How often do we forget that God's Spirit is with us always? Jesus' promise is that He would be with us always, even to the very end of the age. Yet, we forget that His presence is here. Instead, as Ten Shekel Shirt sings/ prays, "Come meet with me." Or as many Christians mistakenly quote Matt. 18: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them." So, what about when I am alone and there is no pastor and the devil is running rampant through my head? What do I do then?

We have forgotten that God's omnipotent Spirit is with us ALWAYS...even when we don't feel it. God's presence doesn't depend on our feeling. Jesus is with us, now, today, with forgiveness and power to live a new life. Amen.