"Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself..." (Isa. 45:15, NIV).
"Oh, that I knew where I might find him..." (Job 23:3, NIV).
"I am sought of them that asked not for me, I am found of them that sought me not..." (cf. Isaiah 65:1).
Paul reminded the Athenians that God isn't far from any one of us (cf. Acts 17:27)! The whole message of Christianity is that we can actually find God! Job thought he lost God and despaired where he was: "O, that I knew where I might find Him." God is not hiding, He just wants us to search earnestly and sincerely. God is no man's debtor and will authenticate Himself to us for seeking Him. Pascal wondered this very point: What we see is not the manifest presence nor total absence of God, but the presence of a hidden God.
God doesn't want to be so obvious that it takes no faith to see Him, but there is enough light if one chooses to see, and enough darkness to keep the stubborn and rebellious blinded. There is always enough evidence for the willing, or never enough evidence for the unwilling. No one can claim ignorance due to lack of evidence, for the heavens declare the glory of God; no one has an excuse in God's view.
The doctrine of the immensity of God and the omnipresence shows that God is wholly present everywhere! He says, "...' I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite'"(Isa. 57:15, NIV). When God seems distant or MIA it is not His fault, but ours: He didn't move; we did! Recall how God asked Adam as an analogy: "Where are you, Adam?" This is where walking with Christ matters, to keep in touch with the Almighty on an intimate basis.
It is a fact that God tests us by removing some of the sense of His presence as He did to Hezekiah to see what was really on his heart (2 Chron. 32:31). Our faith must be tested by fire! (Cf. 1 Pet. 1:7). The measure of our faith is not our ecstasies or experiences, but our obedience! Abraham by faith obeyed! Dietrich Bonhoeffer's famous dictum is pertinent: "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."
Christianity, in essence, isn't just about believing in God, but God in us and about the God who is there! As Francis Schaeffer wrote: "He is there and He is not silent." That's why we must maintain our dialog and communication link open to become intimate and near to God as our Father. We are never alone if God is with us! We have not lost all if God is in us! We must examine ourselves to see if Jesus is indeed in us (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5)!
And so God is transcendent, ubiquitous, and immanent: He is both above and beyond as well as near to every one of us. It's not about a galactic address but a spiritual realm or domain we cannot see. The reason is that He is not defined, bound, or confined by space, for He cannot be limited by the time-space continuum that He created. In a sense, God is extra-dimensional! However, we can enter His presence in the privilege of prayer! Soli Deo Gloria!
Paul reminded the Athenians that God isn't far from any one of us (cf. Acts 17:27)! The whole message of Christianity is that we can actually find God! Job thought he lost God and despaired where he was: "O, that I knew where I might find Him." God is not hiding, He just wants us to search earnestly and sincerely. God is no man's debtor and will authenticate Himself to us for seeking Him. Pascal wondered this very point: What we see is not the manifest presence nor total absence of God, but the presence of a hidden God.
God doesn't want to be so obvious that it takes no faith to see Him, but there is enough light if one chooses to see, and enough darkness to keep the stubborn and rebellious blinded. There is always enough evidence for the willing, or never enough evidence for the unwilling. No one can claim ignorance due to lack of evidence, for the heavens declare the glory of God; no one has an excuse in God's view.
The doctrine of the immensity of God and the omnipresence shows that God is wholly present everywhere! He says, "...' I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite'"(Isa. 57:15, NIV). When God seems distant or MIA it is not His fault, but ours: He didn't move; we did! Recall how God asked Adam as an analogy: "Where are you, Adam?" This is where walking with Christ matters, to keep in touch with the Almighty on an intimate basis.
It is a fact that God tests us by removing some of the sense of His presence as He did to Hezekiah to see what was really on his heart (2 Chron. 32:31). Our faith must be tested by fire! (Cf. 1 Pet. 1:7). The measure of our faith is not our ecstasies or experiences, but our obedience! Abraham by faith obeyed! Dietrich Bonhoeffer's famous dictum is pertinent: "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."
Christianity, in essence, isn't just about believing in God, but God in us and about the God who is there! As Francis Schaeffer wrote: "He is there and He is not silent." That's why we must maintain our dialog and communication link open to become intimate and near to God as our Father. We are never alone if God is with us! We have not lost all if God is in us! We must examine ourselves to see if Jesus is indeed in us (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5)!
And so God is transcendent, ubiquitous, and immanent: He is both above and beyond as well as near to every one of us. It's not about a galactic address but a spiritual realm or domain we cannot see. The reason is that He is not defined, bound, or confined by space, for He cannot be limited by the time-space continuum that He created. In a sense, God is extra-dimensional! However, we can enter His presence in the privilege of prayer! Soli Deo Gloria!