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Response
God’s omnipresence is His attribute of being present everywhere simultaneously. He is omnipresent even when we do not perceive His presence; He is here, even if we do not acknowledge Him. God’s evident presence is, of course, His presence revealed—clearly demonstrating that He is with us.
God’s omnipresence pertains to each Person in the Trinity: the Father «Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? », (Isaiah 66:1), the Son «Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. », (John 1:48), and the Holy Spirit (Psalm 139:7-8). The reality of God’s omnipresence may or may not lead to a unique encounter on our part. Nevertheless, God’s evident presence is the outcome of His direct and unmistakable engagement with us. It is then that we encounter God.
The Bible recounts that each Person of the Trinity has visibly appeared in the lives of specific individuals. God the Father spoke to Moses from the burning bush in Exodus 3. Although God had been with Moses all along, it was at “the far side of the wilderness” near Mt. Horeb «Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. », (Exodus 3:1), that God chose to reveal Himself. God the Son manifested Himself through the Incarnation, as John 1:14 states, “The Word became
“flesh and made his dwelling among us.” On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was manifest to the believers in the upper room: “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:2-4). The result of the manifest presence of God in the lives of the disciples was a world turned upside-down see Acts 17:6.
Theologically, we understand that God is omnipresent, but that fact is not readily discerned with the senses. It is a reality, but that reality may not seem relevant to the majority of people on the planet who have no sense of His presence. They feel He is distant, not close, and that feeling becomes their perceived reality.
We know of God’s manifest presence experientially. The manifest presence of the Spirit may not be visible or aural or able to be sensed physically, but His presence is experienced nonetheless. At the times of His choosing, the Spirit manifests His presence, and our theological knowledge becomes an experiential knowledge. Creedal acquaintance becomes loving familiarity.
In Psalm 71, David prays in his distress to his loving, merciful, and righteous God. David understands that God is with him, and that’s the reason he prays. Near the end of the prayer, David says, “Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once more” (verses 20–21). God’s presence was hidden for a time in David’s life, and it was a time of “troubles, many and bitter”; but David trusted to once again know the manifest presence of God, and that would be a time of honor and comfort.
God never forsook Shadrach, Meshach
, and Abednego. For a time, however, it seemed that the only potentate in existence was King Nebuchadnezzar—and he was murderously furious at the three Hebrew men. The king, unaware of God’s omnipresence, threw the three into the burning, fiery furnace. And that’s when God manifested His presence: “King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and . . . said, ‘Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods’” (Daniel 3:24-25). The reality of God’s presence became discernible, even to the pagan king. This was God’s manifest presence.
We can never lose God’s presence in reality, but we can lose the sense of His presence. There is never a time when God is not present with us, but there are times when God is not manifestly with us. Sometimes His presence is not clear or obvious to the human eye or the human spirit. That’s one reason why we are called to “live by faith, not by sight” «(for we walk by faith, not by sight:) », (2 Corinthians 5:7). God’s omnipresence can exist without our awareness; God’s manifest presence cannot. The whole point of God’s manifest presence is that our awareness of Him is awakened.
Believers always have the Holy Spirit with them. The Bible teaches the indwelling of the Spirit: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” «What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? », (1 Corinthians 6:19). The Spirit will not be taken from us. He is our Comforter, our Helper, our Paraclete until Jesus returns «And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever», (John 14:16).
You forever; », (John 14:16). At that time, Jesus Himself will be with us—evidently and eternally.
However, the indwelling of the Spirit is distinct from the Spirit’s evident presence. Every believer experiences times when they do not “feel” saved or days when they engage in activities unaware of the Spirit’s presence within them. Yet, there are moments when that same indwelling Spirit visits the believer in a unique, evident manner. It might be a song that the Spirit brings to mind; it could be an unexpected encounter with a friend; it could be a prompting to pray, a longing to study the Word, or an indescribable sense of peace—the Spirit is not restricted in how He reveals Himself. The key is that He makes Himself recognized. He is our Comforter. “By Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:15-16).
Should we have faith in God’s omnipresence, even when we do not sense His presence? Absolutely. God, who cannot deceive, affirms that He never leaves or abandons us «Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. », (Hebrews 13:5). Should we also seek God’s evident presence? Absolutely. It is not that we depend on emotions or pursue a sign, but we anticipate the Comforter to console His own—and we willingly admit that we require His comfort.
