Word for Youth

God’s presence

In the Old Testament, the most recognised symbol of God’s presence was the ark of the covenant. Wherever the ark was, God’s presence was there. But we have His presence always. ‘God has said, “I will never leave you; I will never abandon you”’ (Hebrews 13:5 NCV). God’s presence is with us always, nothing can separate us from His presence or His love. But we can begin to think we are separated. The enemy often tries to convince us that God’s not listening to our prayers, that He’s left us alone and no longer cares for us. But God promises to never leave us. The fact that the enemy doesn’t want us to be in God’s presence shows how important being in His presence is. It’s in His presence that we find the things we need to grow in our faith and in our relationship with Him. The Bible tells us that in His presence ‘there is fullness of joy’ (Psalm 16:11 ESV). And if we come to Him we can find rest. ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28 NIV). God longs for us to draw near to Him, but we can be too busy, too fixed on our own ways or too disappointed with God to make the effort. David said: ‘One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple’ (Psalm 27:4 NIV). Is that the one thing we long for too? Do we long to spend time in God’s presence above everything else?