“Your God is far away,” said a heathen man to a missionary, “but our god is sitting here in the temple. We can see him and come into his presence and make our offerings before his face. But your God is far away — you cannot see him — and you do not know where he is.”
Because this man could not see the Christian’s God, God seemed unreal to him. He could not see how a faraway God could influence life. But is the idea of a distant God the true Christian view? Where is your God today? Is He far away in Heaven, leaving you alone? Does He seem out of reach — too far for real contact with your life? Is He so far away that only your most anguished cry might reach Him? Must you strive and struggle, grow desperate, before He notices your petition?
Does it seem only by persistent, intense effort you can force yourself into His presence? Do you feel divine help is rare — something to expect only in your extremity? Do you believe you must fight your battles alone, except in rare moments of crisis?
Where is your God? Does your heart grow lonely? Do you long for His companionship but feel you cannot have it? Do you seek Him and cannot find Him? Job had such an experience. He cried, “ Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!” (Job 23:3).
Job’s experience is repeated often. At times, despite all our seeking, God seems no nearer. How natural it is for the heart at such a time to wish: “Oh, that I had lived when Jesus walked the earth! Oh, that I might have seen him! Oh, that I might have come before him and made known my needs and heard the sound of his voice and followed his footsteps!” He was Immanuel, “God with us.” He truly was with His people. Has His name changed? Does it no longer apply?
No, He is still Immanuel. He is still “God with us.” Heaven is not His only dwelling place. “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’” (Isaiah 57:15). Here God tells us He dwells in Heaven — and also with the humble. He is still with us.
Listen to His promises: “My presence shall go with you” (Exodus 33:14), “lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20) and “I will never leave you, nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
Sometimes these promises seem real for others — but not for ourselves. We believe He is near others, guiding and upholding them, but we struggle to believe He is near us. Yet Paul says, “He is not far from any of us” (Acts 17:27). “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).
God is near you today. He knows every burden, every longing, every aspiration. He hears every prayer, even the silent heart-cry, though it may seem He does not.
Perhaps you feel you walk alone — but you are not alone. There is a Presence beside you. His protection surrounds you. Your God is with you. You may not be conscious of His presence — you may not see, feel, or hear Him — but He is with you, now, to be everything you need.
In an aquarium were some large fish in a glass tank. They were fed minnows, which they snapped up greedily. One day the minnows were placed on the opposite side of a plate-glass partition. They saw the large fish and were frightened, thinking they were in danger. The large fish, seeing the minnows, dashed at them again and again — striking the glass barrier to no purpose but injury. The partition was invisible, yet a perfect protection.
Likewise, God’s protection is sometimes invisible to us, but no less real or effective. We are just as safe when we do not feel or see it as when we do. God is with you as much when you cannot feel His presence as when you can; when you do not see Him working as when His hand is visible.
Where is your God? He is with you now.
Charles Wesley Naylor is considered one of the most prolific and inspiring songwriters of the Church of God. He was bedridden for much of his adult life but wrote eight books, a newspaper column and more than 150 songs. Many of his writings are in the public domain.
