07/20/2025
Are we seeking God? Do we search day and night for Him? Praying? Reading scripture? Well, although these things are good, let’s pause for a moment and be still. He is not hiding from us so we don't need to search for Him... He is all around us! When we realize that this is truth, then all that remains for us to do is to acknowledge that He is here with us now, and to enter an everlasting and loving relationship with Him. Yes, He desires us to be still and know that He is God.
“"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah”
Psalms 46:10-11 ESV
Knowing that there is a God is natural to us; but knowing that He is always present, even when we can't sense His presence, is not. Our earthly fathers are either here, or they are not, and we know this by seeing, hearing, and feeling to determine whether they are present. When our human father goes to work, we know he is absent, and when the door opens in the evening and we hear him say "I'm Home!" We know that he has returned. He can't be in two places at once, so we know he is either here... or not.
On the other hand, God is always with us, as a matter of fact He is both with us and everywhere else simultaneously. To give you an example... I am personally not with you as you are reading this devotional, but at this very moment God is with you, and He is also with me. As far as you and I are concerned, He is here, and e3verywhere, at the same instant... God is omnipresent. The thought of this is so foreign to our limited human lives, but the fact that it is true means that we do not have to seek Him... just realize He is here. In the moment when we realize this, we can be still, and know that He is God, and we can pray in full knowledge that he hears us… all of us… always.
“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.”
Psalms 139:7-10 ESV
When I was a boy I would have nightmares. My mother bought a picture of a beautiful angel with a flowing white gown and majestic wings that was hovering over a little boy and girl, and she hung this picture over my bed. As a child it was hard for me to fathom that God was with me all night long as I slept, but when the terror of a nightmare arose, I could look at that picture and be reminded that angels were watching over me. It was a way of allowing me to know that God was with me without having to understand the concept of omnipresence; and my nightmares subsided. You say you don't believe in guardian angels? Well, listen as Jesus speaks...
“"See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 18:10 ESV
Regardless of our understanding of guardian angels... God was with me in my bedroom, and it would be several years yet before I really came to understand the full impact of His being omnipresent. I used to hear people say that they sought God when they prayed, and this would confuse me. If He is with us always, why should we feel the need to call Him to us before we could have a conversation with Him? Then, as I matured in faith, I came to understand that we aren't really calling God to us, but rather, we are opening ourselves up to the reality that He is there. Whether we acknowledge this truth or not, he has always been there, is there now, and will be there forevermore. So sinning, like prayer, is not something we can keep a secret from God. We might be able to hide it from our family and others, but never from God. He hears our every prayer, knows our heart, and likewise He sees our sins as well.
“Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah 23:24 ESV
In truth, when we think we are sinning in secret, we are only hiding reality from ourselves. God sees our fine clothing, and He sees our nakedness; He sees us at our very best, and in the moment of our darkest hour... and yet, in either case, He loves us no matter and calls us to repentance with the promise of forgiveness. Now, isn’t that love? Forgiveness is the essence of a relationship in which there are no secrets, only a foundation of love, and trust.
So be still... be still and know that He is with you, and that there is nothing about you that He doesn't know. Be still and know that He loves you despite yourself and when you fail He is waiting for your contrition and for you to ask forgiveness, and to love Him back. Be still and know that He is with you in your prayer closet, at work, or in any of those moments when temptation seeks to master you. Be still and know that He sent His Son to redeem you and be still and know that He is God. And read the following scripture time and time again…
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:16-17 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for being with me always. I thank you for loving me when I am righteous, and I thank you for loving me during those moments of weakness when I have succumbed to temptation and find myself stripped naked of my righteousness by sinfulness. Holy Father, you are my constant companion, and you see all that I am. Father, you know my heart, and you know my mind better than I know myself. Hear my pleas for mercy and grace Lord and hear me as I cry in contrition and remorse for your forgiveness. Let me feel the strength in your arms as you lift me from my knees and place me back on the road to holiness once more. Most Merciful God, I thank you for allowing me to understand that you are with me when I face temptation, and that if I will merely still myself, we can pass through those moments together as one. Father, never let me lose sight of you, because in so doing, I will have placed myself above you in the great lie of my own self-importance. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who was, and is, and is to come. Holy are you who is with me, and in me, always, and He who knows my most guarded and shrouded secrets, along with every subtilty of my heart. You are the Great I Am… ever present, ever loving, ever forgiving, and ever merciful as you pour out your grace through Christ upon me. Mighty are you my God and greatly to be praised. Lead me today in this my prayer, and by your Holy Spirit lead me further into your Word as I pray the prayer that Jesus instructed His disciples to say when He told them…
“Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.””
Matthew 6:9-13 ESV
“And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8:27 KJV
Amen, and Amen!
Rich Forbes