RUSHWAVE: Establishing Believers in the Christian Faith

Chapter 7: God is Always There

God is not limited or confined to any one place, and He personally witnesses everything we do.

Man understands the world around him within a spatial orientation — going there, being here, coming from that place, and so on. Yes, through the use of technology such as cameras one man can witness activities in numerous locations simultaneously. But even then he himself is still only in one place.

So where is God as respects location? Where can He be found? We have noted in a previous chapter that ultimately God cannot be thought of as being here, but simply being; not as existing there, but simply existing. He is not comprised of any physical matter, nor does He possesses any form. So where is He? The answer is just as obtuse.

God is always there. Darkness does not hide one from Him; walls or locked doors do not block His access; and running or fleeing does not distance oneself from Him. There is no place a man can go where God is not there. Concerning Himself God says:

“Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?” declares the Lord. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:24

And when contemplating God being ever present, David poetically states:

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 [hell], 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 lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,” even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. Psalm 139:7-12

When David was determined to build a temple for God, He was told:

Thus says the Lord, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 66:1-2

So where is God? Once again, we are dealing with a Being whose mode of existence is far above all human comprehension. God is separate from His creation, and yet He is always there. If God never chose to engage in any creative act, He would exist in the void of absolute nothingness as a conscious, all powerful, loving Being with an infinite mind. And when He chose to create all things, He did not change that mode of existence. He still exist as a conscious, all powerful, loving Being with an infinite mind. He was in no way displaced, confined, or limited by His own creation.

The perspectives of man and God are as far apart as the heavens are from the earth. From our perspective as created beings, our experience is limited to understanding the world through spatial limitations God Himself imposed — geographical markers such as compass coordinates and height elevations along with dimensions of depth, width and height. But from God’s perspective no such limitations ever existed in relation to Himself either before or after the creation. So the very question “Where is God located?” is seeking an answer to something that ultimately never had any relevance to God to begin with. It is similar to a fish asking “What part of the ocean did you hatch in?” That question is reasonable from a fish to another fish, but not from a fish to a man.

God being always there means He witnesses everything as if He were observing it in person. There are different levels of awareness as respects knowing something. We can become aware of a certain act or event by reading about it, hearing the audio from it, or watching a video of it. But witnessing an event while being present provides an even deeper level of awareness. And it is this level of awareness, and more, which God has of mankind because He is always there.

There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Hebrews 4:13
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Watching the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3

God is intimately aware of all our deeds for He witnessed them. This has positive and negative implications. On the negative side, we all have done things we think no one knows about; things we would be ashamed to have others discover; things we would rather not confess but keep concealed. But the truth is nothing is concealed because God was there. He witnessed it in person. We may have been careful to make sure our actions were not discovered. We may have taken steps to hide and cover our tracks. But God not only witnessed our initial act, but every subsequent step we took to cover things up. It does not matter if the deed was committed in the day or in the night, whether we disguised ourselves or acted with sleight of hand. It does not even matter if we were successful in avoiding getting caught. God saw it all.

On the positive side, God personally witnessed the injustices we have been subjected to from others, as well as all the suffering life has brought our way. Wrongdoers may seem to have gotten away with things, and they may indeed live their lives without being exposed. But before God they have always been exposed, and their works never concealed. God knows our innocence! And when we have gone through our darkest hours with physical suffering brought on by an illness, accident or other catastrophe, God witnessed that also. He was there.

God being present everywhere means He is never inaccessible on account of where we are. We may think if we are to have an encounter with God we must go to a mountain top or some other scenic location. Scenic views are definitely inspiring, but God is as accessible from a mountain top as He is everywhere else. Hospital beds, prisons, or court rooms do not bar His presence. Rulers cannot send Him into exile. Managers cannot expel Him. And corrupt establishments cannot forbid Him entry.

God is separate from His creation and yet always there. He has personally witnessed and observed you from the time of your infancy, and will continue to do so every single day from now until you take your last breath. And throughout your whole life, His accessibility has never been nor ever will be contingent on the physical location of where you are.

from The Nature and Character of God

Learn more ...