There are times when our spiritual lives feel dull or unfruitful. We sometimes call these “dry seasons.” Dry seasons are times when we don’t feel God’s power; we don’t sense His comforting presence when we are working our way through a painful or challenging season. Sometimes, especially when we are going through a crisis or traumatic event, we feel like we are all alone.
Have you ever been there? Have you desperately called out to God, but He seemed to have taken a vacation? Or maybe you are wondering, where is God in this pandemic? Someone once asked, “Where is God?” The better question is, “Where is God not?”
Notice the words of the psalmist.
Psalm 139:7-10 NKJV: Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there, your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.
We learn there is no place we can run and not find God.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
When the psalmist asks, “Where can I go from your Spirit?” He is asking, “Where can I go from Your presence and power?” He is saying, “God, there is nowhere I could go where you will not also be.” He is here, there, and everywhere. God is fully present in Tokyo, fully present in Fiji. He is fully present in Little Rock. He is fully present at my house. He is fully present at your house. He is fully present everywhere and at all times.
When you get in your car, God is there. When you go home, God is there. When you are channel surfing, God is there. When you are checking out what’s on the internet, God is there. If you go to the space station, take a missile, go into the stratosphere, and beyond the stratosphere into the ionosphere into outer space, God would be there.
If you bore down deeper into the molten core of this earth further than ever a person has been, God would be there. If at your death you were to have your body cremated and have those ashes scattered, yet your spirit bare and naked would stand in the presence of God. God is everywhere.
Interestingly, Jonah thought he could outrun God. One day God showed up and instructed him to preach a word of repentance to a group of people Jonah deemed unfit and unworthy of his time. Jonah had no use for them. He rebelled against God and decided to flee in the opposite direction toward Spain. He quickly learned that he could not outrun God. Over and over in the Bible, God reminds us that we cannot hide from his gazing eyes. (Jeremiah 23:24; Amos 9:2; Amos 9:3; Amos 9:4.)
God leads us in all circumstances.
Psalm 139:11-12 NKJV: If I say, Surely the darkness shall fall, even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from you. But the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to you.
God doesn’t have to have light to see. In Matthew 14:25, Jesus came to his disciples during the fourth watch of the night. In pitch black dark, he came walking on the very thing they feared to reveal himself to them. Likewise, he will do the same for you. He will use the very thing you fear to reveal his power and presence to you. God sees through the dark. May I remind you that even the darkest hours of your life cannot hide you from the eyes of God?
Be encouraged!
–
Rev. Chestine Sims Jr.of White Hall is pastor of Union AME Church at Little Rock. Please join us for worship on Facebook live at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Editor’s note: Pastors, ministers or other writers interested in writing for this section may submit articles to shope@adgnewsroom.com. Please include your phone number and the name and location of your church or ministry.