Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psalm 139:7
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Genesis 33:8
And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
Exodus 33:14
What’s fascinating is that God’s presence is everywhere. Yet He allows man to hide from Him, and He also promises to go with man.
At first glance all three statements are impossible to reconcile. The problem occurs when attempting to relate God to man. The English scholars call this “personification” – attempting to explain God in human language.
In Genesis – Did Adam really hide from God’s presence? Or did he just attempt to? Obviously he just attempted to. We can’t hide from God.
In Exodus – Was God promising something special or was he just acknowledging the obvious omnipresence? Notice God was tying His presence to His rest. When we accept His presence as more than just an academic fact, or someone looking over our shoulder, but as someone who wants to be our Friend, we have extra blessings from Him.
So – there are three ways to respond to God’s presence:
- Pretend to hide like Adam and think God will leave you alone.
- Admit to an intellectual knowledge of God and live merely in fear.
- Accept His presence and the blessings He provides in a personal relationship with Him.
If we have a personal relationship – let’s spend time with our Friend!
