Today in Amos we see a reminder of God’s omnipresence, His being everywhere. God is not localised to one place at one time, as you are or I am, so, as I am sitting at my desk right now I am not at home. If you are reading this at home you are not sitting in your office, you get the picture. But God is everywhere, all the time, we can never flee His presence (Psalm 139.7).
Amos is relaying the coming judgement of God, and paints a pretty thorough picture of all the places we cannot escape God; Sheol/hell and heaven (v.2), atop high mountains or at the depths of the ocean (v.3), and in captivity by enemies (v.4).
Obviously the context here is not wonderfully positive for the people; God is saying that there is nowhere to run to escape the judgement that is coming. But, if we consider His omnipresence from a different angle, we can view it as truly positive thing.
When we are struggling for motivation in the humdrum of daily life, God is there.
When we are pushed to the limit of frustration in our parenting, God is there.
When we are having some quiet alone time in prayer, God is there.
When we assemble as a church family to worship Him, God is there.
As with many things in the Christian life, God’s omnipresence is about perspective. If we are living contrary to the way He says we ought to be living, then His omnipresence will feel overbearing and ‘big brother’-esque.
But, if we are doing our earthly best to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, if we are doing our human best to love our neighbour as ourselves (and relying on the indwelling Spirit to help us go beyond our human limits), then His omnipresence will be comforting, inspiring, motivating, and reassuring.
So, God is everywhere. How do you feel about that?
James Travis 