What I Wish I Knew Earlier About God’s Presence
My Fear and God’s Response
I struggle with fear:
- The fear of what others thought of me.
- The fear of looking foolish.
- The fear of disappointing my family.
- The fear of letting down my friends.
As a kid, I hated that fear was holding me back from enjoying life. During a youth church service, someone mentioned that God said, “Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you.” The word ‘afraid’ caught my attention, and I wanted to know if the Bible had more to say about my fear. I asked about this statement, and someone showed me its location. I went home and re-read Isaiah 41:10 multiple times.
Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. — Isaiah 41:10
For days, I continued to think about the phrase, “Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you.” I noticed there are two critical parts in the sentence. The first is an instruction: Don’t you be afraid. The second is the reason for the directive: for I am with you. The support for God’s command to not be scared is the promise of God’s presence. I began searching the Bible to find other instances of God’s presence addressing someone’s concern or worry. What I found was incredible and overwhelming. If you struggle with fear and like to make excuses about why you cannot do something, you may find these passages interesting.
In sharing some of the examples from scripture, I apologize if it feels redundant. I want to demonstrate a significant theme developed from the beginning to the end of the Bible.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, there is a progressing revelation of God to humanity. First, God speaks to Abraham. Abraham is to share God with his family and descendants. Abraham’s family would become a nation expected to reveal God to all other people.
After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” — Genesis 15:1
In God’s revelation to Abraham, there is the instruction to not be afraid and the support that God is his shield and reward. The concept of protection reveals the closeness and presence of the Divine.
Abraham had a son named Isaac. God appeared to Isaac and said, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.”
Yahweh appeared to him the same night, and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” — Genesis 26:24
Isaac had a son named Jacob, and God said to him, “I am with you and will keep you.”
Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.” Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, “Surely Yahweh is in this place, and I didn’t know it.” He was afraid, and said, “How awesome this place is! This is none other than God’s house, and this is the gate of heaven.” — Genesis 28:15–17
For three generations, God appears, speaks to their fears, and shares the reality of the Divine’s presence in their lives.
Moses
Abraham’s family lived through a great famine and moved to Egypt for survival. Over the next 400 years, they were enslaved in Egypt. God came to Moses and shared a plan for the people’s deliverance and how Moses would be the one to lead the people. Moses was not excited about God’s idea, and he made excuses for why it was a terrible plan. Instead of giving Moses a pep-talk on believing in himself, God responds with, “I will be with you.” The same thing God said to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” — Exodus 3:11–12
Joshua
After Moses, Joshua becomes the leader of the people. At the beginning of Joshua’s leadership, God says,
Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go. — Joshua 1:9
Gideon
During this time, there was no official king over the Israelites. God was considered the leader of the people. The Bible stories reveal a pattern where the people would obey and follow God for a season. Then they would forget about God and go their own way. Eventually, the people would find themselves under attack or in bondage to another group, and they would cry out to God for deliverance. God would raise heroes, known in the Old Testament as judges.
One of the judges was Gideon. God came to Gideon and let him know that he will be the one to deliver the people from their enemies. Similar to Moses, Gideon is afraid and responds,
He said to him, “O Lord, how shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” — Judges 6:15
Gideon made excuses and said that he was an insignificant person in a poor family. Gideon does not believe that God can use him. And God says,
Surely I will be with you — Judges 6:16
God does not directly address his excuses but responds, “Gideon, I’m with you.”
Jeremiah
After the judges, the people demanded a king, which began the reign of King Saul, King David, and King Solomon. During their leadership, individuals would rise and attempt to speak God’s truth to power. These individuals, known as prophets, would speak as God’s representative.
God came to Jeremiah and told him that he would speak for God. As we have seen before, Jeremiah rejected God’s idea and said,
“Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child.” — Jeremiah 1:6
And God responded,
“Don’t say, ‘I am a child;’ for you must go to whomever I send you, and you must say whatever I command you. Don’t be afraid because of them, for I am with you to rescue you.” — Jeremiah 1:7–8
Repeatedly in the Old Testament, God instructs humanity not to fear and promises God’s presence as the reason for this command. God consistently responds to excuses with the Divine’s reality and the Spirit’s closeness, moving the focus from the problem to God. From each story, God’s presence is the deciding factor in their life and the results. It wasn’t because Moses, Gideon, or Jeremiah were great, but because God was with them, it made all the difference.
Why Was God Quiet for 400 Years?
These are all stories from the Old Testament, so what about the New Testament? Is this theme consistent throughout the entire Bible?
Did you know that between the two major sections in the Bible, there are 400 years where God seems to go silent? There are no significant writings concerning God, from the Old Testament’s last books to the New Testament’s first books.
There is a debate on the gap’s meaning, and no one knows for sure what happened. During seminary, one of my professors shared the idea that God went silent to prepare the world for God’s next great revelation. God was quiet so that we would lean in a little more and listen more carefully to what God would say next.
What did God say next? God speaks to Joseph, Mary, and John the Baptist’s parents of God’s redemptive work through the life of Jesus. Matthew records that this fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy that the virgin will give birth to a son and,
“They shall call his name Immanuel,” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.” — Matthew 1:23
God breaks the silence by continuing the theme of the Divine’s presence with us and how Jesus reveals the closeness of the Spirit.
Jesus
Jesus not only taught his followers on God’s presence, but he also models a life of fully engaging the Divine. Jesus goes to the extreme of saying that he can do nothing on his own, and everything he does flows from his connection to God, listening and taking action on what he hears and sees.
Seeing God
Jesus therefore answered them, “Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise. — John 5:19
Listening to God
I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me. — John 5:30
Jesus therefore said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things. He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn’t left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” — John 8:28–29
Ongoing Conversation with God
Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, “Father, I thank you that you listened to me. I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude standing around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” — John 11:41–42
Abiding in God’s Love
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love. — John 15:10
Jesus instructs his followers to do the same things that he has done with his life. They are to stay connected to God’s presence, watch what Spirit is doing, listen for instructions, and take action on what they hear from the Divine. Jesus uses the metaphor of a vine that bears fruit and that they will bear delicious fruit if they remain connected to God’s presence and flow in their life.
Staying Connected
Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. — John 15:4–5
Before Jesus dies, he promises that he will always be with his followers. There is more they need to know, but it is too much for them to handle at this time. The Spirit of God will instruct them and share with them all they need to know and understand. Jesus’ final prayer is a prayer of oneness, unity, connection, and presence.
Jesus’ Promise of the Spirit
I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming. — John 16:12–13
I (Jesus) am with you always, even to the end of the age. — Matthew 28:20
Jesus’ Last Prayer = Oneness and Presence.
Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me. — John 17:20–23
The Early Church
The early church leaders continued the theme of God’s presence and the Spirit of God within each of us. The Apostle Paul was the author for much of the New Testament. He frequently used the phrases “in Christ” or “with Christ” to express the reality of our connection to the Divine. Paul describes each person as the temple of God or the dwelling place of the Spirit. The Apostle John reminds his readers that God’s anointing or presence is within them and will teach them all they need to know. He instructs them to remain connected to the Divine in their life.
Christ Lives in Us
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. — Galatians 2:20 (Paul)
God’s Spirit in Us
Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you? — 1 Corinthians 3:16 (Paul)
But we received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God. — 1 Corinthians 2:12 (Paul)
As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him. — 1 John 2:27 (John)
The Mystery of the Gospel
Paul indicates that God has revealed the Divine and the Spirit’s presence in all people. Paul calls this work of God a “mystery,” and Jesus’ revelation of God in us is the key to understanding. This mystery and revelation of God are the “gospel” message of the Bible. The word gospel means good news. So, the mystery of God and the good news for all people is the Divine in you. We embrace the Spirit in us as our hope that God is restoring us and all creation. Paul states that this theme of God in you is the hope we embrace. Paul’s writing is a little hard to follow, but he states
…the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints, to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. — Colossians 1:24–27
So What?
Throughout the Bible, God reveals that it is not the individual but the Divine’s presence in the individual that is the deciding factor in their life. The same is true for you. The Spirit of God and the Divine in you is the key to experiencing the fulness of life and revealing all God has placed within you. When you live out of your authentic and true self, you demonstrate God’s presence, power, and goodness to others.
Within you is the Divine waiting to be expressed in all its fullness. It is not just a little bit of the Spirit or a small piece of the Divine. You didn’t receive 20% of God’s love or 10% of God’s power. The Spirit of Christ in you is the presence of ALL of God. Within you is 100% of God’s strength, peace, love, grace, and goodness — all that God is, is in you.
No matter our excuse for God’s purposes in our lives, the Divine’s response is always the Spirit’s presence. Imagine if each person came to this realization and began to live out of this reality. Imagine if everyone believed God was in them, and they lived in a way to demonstrate this to others. When we see each moment as an opportunity to experience the Divine and reveal God through us, we bring heaven to earth. Expressing who God has made us and sharing our light creates healing and restoration for those around us.
Prayer
My prayer for you is similar to the Apostle Paul’s prayer for those in Ephesus. May you be strengthened in your Spirit, may you be grounded in the Divine, may you know the fulness of God’s love, and may you see God’s power working through you!
For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. — Ephesians 3:14–21
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