“Then Jacob awoke from His sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’” Genesis 28:16

Did God Show Up?

I have used the phrase “God showed up” many times without thinking about what I was saying (a too-common problem for me, and I suspect for many who are reading this.) After someone is healed, I might say, “God showed up.” During times of worship when I am particularly moved, I might say, “God is here.” While in prayer, I may sense His presence and declare, “God has come.”

But lately I’ve been pondering whether those words are accurate. God showed up? Do I mean to imply that He isn’t usually here, but at this moment He is? Do I mean that He is too busy to be here all the time, but once in awhile He comes? Do I mean that He only cares to be with me at certain times, but not always?

God is both near, and far off. He is on earth, and in heaven. He is within us, and around us. There is no place that is outside of His presence. This is what it means to be omnipresent. “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there” (Psalm 139:7-8).

When I say, “God showed up,” I am implying something untrue about God. I am telling others that He sometimes leaves us. He’ll come around when He feels like it—perhaps whenever He has work to do, but no other time. This is a deception from the enemy. That lie is what makes us say that God doesn’t hear us, or that certain people are a lost cause, or some circumstances will never change. It implies that God is not always working, His Spirit does not always dwell in us, and He has retreated to His throne room, leaving us to get along by ourselves. “’Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?’ says the Lord; ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:24).

We want to convey true things about God. Witnessing isn’t just sharing the gospel—witnessing is telling the truth, according to God’s own Word, about Who He is and what He has done.

Like Jacob, we might not be aware of it—but He is in this place.

“Father, put right words in our mouth when we speak of You, that others may hear and believe. We pray in the name of Your precious Son, Jesus. Amen.”