Is God There?

Is God There?
"After attending church one Sunday morning, a little boy knelt at his bedside that night and prayed, "Dear God, we had a good time at church today--but I wish you had been there." -- Source Unknown
When I read this statement today, it was for me a pause and think moment. Right away I felt something that resonated with that phrase. I can think of countless times when I've sat in church and had the same longing, "I wish God was here!"
I also thought about the dozen or so conversations I've had with people who wish they could stay here at Keswick and never go home. Why? Because they all had a perception about Keswick wherein they concluded that "God was here" and if being here meant I could "feel" God, then why leave.
The older I get in the Lord, the more experiences I have which fit into both of the scenes mentioned above -wishing God was wherever I felt He wasn't, and wishing I could sit still forever where I felt His presence to be.
Praise God for the wisdom and knowledge that only time can bring. Thank God I have learned that He is way bigger than my feelings. Walking closer and closer to God is teaching me that He is never, not near and He is always present in the Holy Spirit who lives and breathes in me. Halleluiah!!!
The surest way that I know that I can feel and know that God is near is to praise Him. He inhabits the praises of His people!!
"But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel" -Psalms 22:3
The truth is we long for heaven. The longing we have to feel Him, to feel nearer to Him, to feel connected to Him can and will never be fully satisfied until we are home with Jesus. What we can do until then is to praise Him in the midst of every triumph and every single trial, no matter how rough it is. Praise Him, not only for what He has done but oh, dear one, praise Him for Who He Is!!

He didn't leave us to settle for a sometimes feeling of His Presence, in church, or at any other place. As sure as He is who He says He is -He, the Lord of the Ages, has left us with a tangible Presence in the Person of the Holy Spirit. In this Presence we can know that we know that we know that He is here.

Encouragement:
Whatever trouble is present in your today, trust that He is in it and Praise Him, in spite of it.

Stephanie