It's Perception, Not Proximity

“And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.” (Ge 28:16 AV)

 The presence of God is not a matter of proximity, but of perception.  Let me explain.  God is omnipresent.  He is at all places and at all times.  Even in hell, the presence of God is in the form of His wrath.  There is no place in creation where God is not.  He is everywhere, all the time.  Therefore, Jacob is doctrinally correct here.  God was there.  He simply didn’t perceive Him to be there.  Where we are confused is that God does not interact in the same way and in all the same places.  He may show His wrath in hell, but He exercises His mercy on heaven.  He is in both places.  He is simply manifested differently based on context and purpose.  When God visited Jacob with a ladder up to heaven with angels ascending and descending, this was not an everyday occurrence no matter where Jacob was.  It was at Bethel that Jacob perceived the presence of God differently than he did with Abimelech.   Whether in Bethel or with Laban in Mesopotamia, God was still with him and in very real and discernable ways.

God was very good to us as we raised our children.  He allowed me to be a large part of their lives.  Often, people ask us what we did as parents that resulted in three godly men and the number one thing was the time I was allowed to spend with them.  As young men, I homeschooled them and worked the second and third shifts.  When they went to a Christian school, mom taught there.  We moved to Chicago and again, began homeschooling them then they went to a Christian school where I taught them Bible as my wife taught third grade.  When they were old enough, they got summer jobs as golf caddies.  I was there, too, caddying with them.  For each loop, I had the privilege to pair up with one of them.  During our downtime, I sat and read books while they played cards or basketball.  While they grew up, one or both of their parents was always present.  This did not mean we had non-stop interaction with them.  I respected their space and individuality.  They had friends.  They had co-workers.  They never felt like I was non-stop babysitting them.  Which I was not.  I was always there whether they needed me or not.  I was their teacher, co-worker, mentor, and friend.  There was never a point in their lives where Dad was not present.  If not physically, then I was only a phone call away.

This idea that God’s presence comes and goes makes man the determining factor in God’s involvement.  This is simply not true.  Thinking that God is in one place but not another opens the door to guiltless temptations.  If we can go to a place where we should not be because God is not there, sin becomes much easier.  Mostly, if God is in one place and not another, where then is our security?  Do we have to be anxious because, in the time of our need, God may or may not be there?  NO!  God is always there.  Our problem is a perception problem.  We do not perceive Him because we are not looking for Him.  We are not looking for the manifestation of God which He has chosen.  We cannot see Him because we do not recognize the still small voice.  We are looking for the wind, the fire, or the earthquake.  God is always there and nothing can change that.  We simply have to look for Him.