Christmas is a celebration of the Presence of God, of Jesus, Emmanuel, “God with us”. In recent times, and in the lead up to Christmas, I’ve been reflecting on God’s Presence, hoping to understand how and why people were able to recognise it (or not), and how to recognise it, relish it and engage with it.

In the Old Testament, only a few privileged people experienced the manifestation of God’s actual presence. In the New Testament, God came to dwell among humans in the person of Jesus. This was foretold by prophets and angels. As Matthew 1:23 states, “A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Emmanuel”, which means, “God is with us”. John 1 reminds us that the Word was God (v. 1), “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (v. 14). As such, people in Jesus’ day could literally have Jesus, God in human form, come into their house and sup with him, a picture painted in Revelations 3:20.

However, following Jesus death, resurrection and ascension into Heaven, doing that literally would have proven somewhat tricky. Nevertheless, The Great Commission does say “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). We know that God is faithful and always keeps His promises. As such, from that statement alone, we can be assured that God is always with us.

That probably doesn’t stop us from doubting though, does it? As humans, sometimes we want to feel something, anything – goosebumps, the hairs on our neck standing or some other tangible evidence of God’s presence. Or we want to wake up to Jesus sitting by our bedside or an angel floating above our bed before we believe that God is with us. Unfortunately, we cannot rely on our feelings, and we may also not physically see Jesus while we are still on Earth. In fact, God manifesting Himself in a very obvious manner is very rare, and was usually reserved for highly significant events which people would have probably strongly doubted otherwise. Even so, it rarely ever happened as people expected. As 1 Kings 19:11-13 shows us, it may not be in the powerful wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in the gentle whisper. David Campbell notes that “God does not manifest His presence so that we can be emotionally overcome, but rather so that we can be spiritually empowered”. Given the importance, we really should not be oblivious to God’s presence. Sadly though, what I’ve found as I’ve reflected on the Presence of God, is just how many people were completely oblivious to it.

In Genesis 28, Jacob was travelling from Beersheba to Haran, and stopped at the city of Luz to rest. There he encountered God’s presence, and the first thing Jacob said when he woke up from his sleep was “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it” (v. 16, ESV). Why didn’t Jacob recognise God’s presence in that place? Verse 11 simply tells us that he stopped there because the sun had set. It wasn’t that he expected to encounter God there. Was it because he didn’t feel there was anything unusual about the place? Perhaps it looked similar to other cities he had passed on his journey? Or was it because he was very tired from his journey? Maybe because Jacob had not had a prior encounter with God, he didn’t even know what to expect? Lots of questions, but the good thing is that he eventually recognised it. Not only that, he set up a memorial there to mark God’s presence, and renamed the place Bethel (vs 18-19).

In the faith-fuelling story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we read about the moment the king’s eyes were opened and his oblivion dissipated: “Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counsellors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods” – Daniel 3:24-25. The king’s surprise at the presence of God is quite evident even though he wasn’t a believer prior to this incident. His ‘believer’ status changed pretty quickly though, as noted in verse 26.

In 2 Kings 6:17-20, we see another example of someone who was oblivious to the presence of God. This time however, it was the servant of Elisha, a man of God. Elisha had to specifically pray for his servant’s eyes to be opened, which insinuates that God can be present, even to believers, and we can be completely blind to it. Thankfully God answered Elisha’s prayer and opened his servant’s eyes and “he saw”.

Something similar happened in Luke 24, on the road to Emmaus. As in the last example, these were people who believed in God. In verse 19, they said, in reference to Jesus, “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.” Yet, as verse 16 notes, their eyes were prevented, or kept from recognising Jesus. Until later on, when their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight. Then they asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Verses 31-32). It is interesting that they actually experienced a somewhat physical response to God’s presence, and yet, their eyes were still blind to that presence.

This lack of awareness is not restricted to the presence of God, but heavenly beings, as in 2 Kings, and in Hebrews 13:2, which notes that some have entertained angels without even knowing.

In Mark 6:4, Jesus notes that “A prophet is honoured everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” (NLT). In a sense, the people who should have been closest to Jesus were the ones who were the least likely to recognise and acknowledge His presence as the Son of God. Foreigners (wise men from the East), and humble shepherds, probably uneducated, recognised God in Jesus, but some of the learned men of the day did not. As such, it is clear that kinship and knowledge are not enough.

The question then is, Why are we so oblivious to something as majestic as the presence of the Most High God and how can our eyes be opened?

We know that God is omnipresent, but we also know that someone can be present, and yet we don’t engage with them. It is like having a guest in your house, but being focused on your phone instead of communing with your guest. Our hearts can burn within us in God’s presence, and yet we can be spiritually blind to it. C.S. Lewis says “We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito”. In Psalm 139:7-12, David eloquently expresses God’s omnipresence. Psalm 139 is a reminder that we cannot escape His presence, whether in the highest Heavens or in the depths of the sea. As Richard Rohr puts it, “We cannot attain the presence of God because we are already totally in the presence of God. What is absent is awareness.” It is therefore important that our eyes are open to God’s presence in our lives, and that we fully come into and engage with His presence. Sadly, there are obstacles which blind our eyes, or distractions which mellow the flame burning in our hearts. Nevertheless, A.W. Tozer notes that “the importance of coming into God’s presence is worth overcoming all obstacles along the way”.

I am certainly not perfect, but I am really keen on maintaining my consciousness of God’s presence. This is because in God’s presence, I am aware of His status as “The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6), and I am full of joy (Psalm 16:11). His Presence inspires holiness and a deep reverence (Exodus 19:16, Hebrews 12:21). Psalm 97:5 paints such a fascinating picture of mountains melting like wax at the presence of the LORD. God’s presence is safe (Psalm 91), and yet in a way, not safe (Exodus 20:18). I realise that sounds like a contradiction, but what I mean is that God is a consuming fire, so being in His presence purifies us, and that purification process does not feel ‘safe’. But as Matthew 5:8 reminds us “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. The more He purifies us, the more we can see Him, and see Him at work in our lives. On the other hand, it is safe because once we know God is with us, we can truly be at peace even in the midst of any storm or pestilence (Psalm 91), because the devil cannot harm us as children of God without His knowledge (Job 1, Luke 22:31). As such, God’s presence is the best place to be. Psalm 84:10 expresses this beautifully: “a single day in God’s courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.”

Are we even worthy to experience the blessing of God’s intimate presence though? On our own, no. The centurion in Matthew 8:8 was acutely aware of this. However, because of Jesus’ death on the cross, and His blood that was shed, which speaks better things (mercy) than the blood of Abel (vengeance) (Hebrews 12:24), we can boldly approach God’s throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). Jesus’ sacrifice makes us worthy, which is incredibly humbling and breath-taking.

Knowing the price Jesus paid to give us this privilege should really inspire us to maintain our consciousness of God’s presence, and to truly relish and engage with it through prayer, worship, dwelling in and living out His Word, and walking in line with His Will. God dwells in the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). We can praise and worship God through various means – song worship; spending quality time with Him, thus showing the value we place on who He is; using the gifts He has given us to bless others (and possibly entertain angels!); and in many other ways as God’s Spirit leads us. I love the song “Awake my Soul” by Hillsong (link here), because it somewhat helps me visualise God’s presence, not in an idolatrous way, but in an awe-inspiring, hope-inducing way. Spending quality time praying is so so important, even more so when our lives feel crowded. As Martin Luther said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” Praying has personally helped me become more aware of God’s presence, and less overwhelmed by fear, more so during some really daunting moments. It was also through prayer that Elisha’s frightened servant became aware of the presence of God’s vast and powerful army. Furthermore, the more we pray, the more we know how to better serve God and walk in line with His will. In doing so, we will continue to enjoy the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14). We need to pray and act with faith though, because as Hebrews 11:6 says, it is not possible to please God or come to and enjoy His presence without faith.

I pray that as we read this, we will become more aware of this privilege we have as children of God, to experience, enjoy and engage with our holy, awesome, magnificent, loving God, our Abba. May we not be like the half-hearted creatures C.S. Lewis refers to, “fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.” May our souls be awakened and our eyes opened to the beautiful presence of God, and as we experience it, may our souls never go back to sleep, and may our eyes never be dimmed to God’s glorious, dazzling, astounding presence.

Image source here.