Omnipresent

"Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,'

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you."

Psalm 139:7-12

I can, and often do, try to run from God; but I can't hide from Him.  It may sound scary, but is this a bad thing?

Nothing Off-Limits.  The sign beckoned me, causing much speculation and theory formation.  What's behind that door?  The "No Admittance" sign and locked door prevented my co-workers and I entry into the mysterious room that lay behind, but we could only imagine what was so important that it had to be locked away.

I often try to pull this trick on God, marking certain parts of my life as off-limits to God.  Or there are some areas not acknowledged in polite society and I assume God will honor such boundaries as well.  Or I'm scared out of my wits to face the fears I hide away in my heart, ignoring them and hoping they will go away and trusting that God will do the same.  

God, while a gentle and loving God, is also my Father and knows when it is time to bring certain issues to light, helping me to face them head on where they can be dealt with.  As He walks me through the cobwebs, I find these once-overbearing issues losing their power as they are brought into the Light of my Father's attention.  I am then free to move forward in grace.

There is no place that is off-limits to God, where His hand of discipline and rescue cannot reach.

Never too Far.  He went in the opposite direction.  The thought of traveling to the wicked city filled with darkness and cruelty and actually telling them off scared this profit out of his wits.  He simply could not picture himself committing such an act of what amounted to suicide.  These people were known for their creative ways of torturing those who ticked them off.  What would they do to him?  How could He do God's bidding (Jonah 1)?

We all know how it ended up for Noah, finding himself in the belly of a giant fish for three days.  God knew exactly what Noah was doing, could see how he tried to run away to Tarshish instead of making his way to Nineveh.  And God did whatever it took to capture Noah's attention, restoring him to a right relationship with Himself.

No matter where I go, I will never be apart from God's loving guidance and His tender support.  Even if I do my best to push Him away or build an impenetrable barrier of self-sufficiency around me, or ignore His advances; He will still do His part, loving me too much to leave me to my own devices.

Nowhere is so far that God's reach is not further still.

No Secrets.  No one knows what is hidden in my heart.  I've never mentioned this area of sin to another soul.  There are fears I am pretty good at hiding away, pretending like they don't exist.  It's easy to sweep my problems under the rug, hoping they'll go away.  To God, however, nothing is secret.  He sees it all.  

It's easy for me to think that if no one else knows the secret, then God doesn't either.  If a child-molester can pose as an upstanding citizen, then perhaps not even God can rescue his victims from their earthly hell.  Or if the morally bankrupt husband can pull the wool over the eyes of those in church leadership, maybe God doesn't even perceive the evil he is committing.  Or if the cheating boss is able to swindle his way to the top, is it possible that God cannot even stop His destructive ways?

No.  Even the most evil of deeds done under cover of darkness are completely visible to God.  The blackest of night is as midday to Him.  Nothing is hidden from God, of this I can rest assured.

Even the most horrible deed done in secret is completely known to God.

God is everywhere, aware of everything and able to perceive all things.  Therefore, nothing is off-limits to Him, nor is there anywhere that is out of His reach, any darkness that is hidden from Him.  His omnipresent nature is to my benefit, and I can trust Him to always discipline, rescue, guide, support and see me.  To answer my question, then, no; God's omnipresent nature is not a bad thing.  It is good, very good.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust God, knowing that I am never out of His reach.

How do I fear that someone is getting away with hurting many, and there's nothing I can do about it?  How would knowing that God sees everything done in darkness and trusting Him to fight that battle set my mind at ease?

How do I run away from God?