In the Secret of His Presence

Though God is omnipresent to all creation, many often fail to feel His presence due to our unawareness. Figures like Brother Lawrence found God's nearness even in humble tasks, while others felt divine connection through stillness and purity. This chapter encourages us to cultivate a sense of God’s presence through prayer, purity, and meditation on Scripture. God’s presence brings peace, purity, and strength, transforming life.

In one sense, God is always near us. He is not an absentee; he does not need anyone to bring him down from the heavens or up from the deep. He is near at hand. His Being pervades all being. Every world that floats like an island in space shows signs of His presence. It's like how your friend's home is full of clues of his house. They prove he lives there, though you have not seen his face. Every crocus pushing through the dark mould. Every firefly in the forest. Every bird that springs up from its nest before your feet. All that exists is as full of God's presence as the burning bush. Before it, Moses bared his feet in acknowledgment of God. But we do not always realise it. We often pass hours, and days, and weeks.

We sometimes pray. We go back and forth to His house, where the ladder of communication rests. Still, He is a shadow, a name, a tradition, a dream of days gone by. “Oh that I knew where find him!

That even come to his seat! I seek him, but he's not there.

Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.” (Job 23:3, 8–9).

How different is this failure to see God's presence from the bliss of those who felt His nearness! Brother Lawrence, a simple cook, felt God's presence for over sixty years. He felt it while doing his humble duties.

Office as when partaking of the Holy Supper. John Howe, on the blank page of his Bible, wrote in Latin: "This morning I awoke from a most delightful dream. A bright stream of celestial rays from the Divine Majesty's throne seemed to dart into my open and expanded breast. I have often reflected on that great pledge of Divine favor. It has brought me much joy.”

Are not these, so blessed and inspiring, experiences like those of the author of the longest, and in some ways, the sublimest Psalm in the Psalter? He had been pounding out the golden ore of thought through the paragraphs of great power and beauty. Then, he seemed to sense that He of whom he had been speaking was near and bending over him.

The sense of the presence of God was born upon this inner consciousness. And, lifting up a face on which reverence and ecstasy met and mingled, he cried, “But you are near, O Lord, and all your commandments are true.” (Psalm 119:151).

If only such an experience of the nearness of God were always ours, enfolding us as air or light; if only we could feel, as the great apostle put it on Mars’ Hill, that God is not far away but the element in which we have our being, as sea flowers live in deep, still lagoons: then we should understand what David meant when he spoke about dwelling in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, beholding His beauty, inquiring in His temple, and hiding in the secret of His pavilion. “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. (Psalm 27:4–5). Then, too, we should get the blessed secret of peace, purity, and power.

In the Secret of His Presence There Is Peace. “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). People say a certain insect can surround itself with a film of air. It then drops into muddy, stagnant pools and remains unhurt. The believer knows that a divine presence surrounds him. It protects him like an envelope protects a far-travelled letter. "They draw nigh that follow after mischief." But, You are nearer than the nearest. I dwell in the inner ring of Your presence. The horses and chariots of Your protection fill the mountains around me. No weapon formed against me can prosper. It can only reach me through You. It will touch you and then shift its gaze to the side without causing any harm. To be in God is to be in a well-fitted house when the storm has slipped its leash. Or, it is to be in a sanctuary, the doors of which shut out a pursuer.

In the Secret of His Presence There Is Purity. The sight of the distant, snow-capped Alps, across Lake Geneva, elevates the soul. It destroys all evil things that might intrude upon it.

A little child's pure innocence can disarm passion. It's like a beam of light, falling in a reptile-haunted cave that scatters the snakes. But what will not Your presence do for me, if I get a perpetual sense of it, and live in its secret place? In the heart of that fire, despite being black cinder, I must remain pure, glowing, and intense!

In the Secret of His Presence There Is Power. My cry, day and night, is for power—spiritual power. Not the power of intellect, oratory, or human might. These cannot avail to vanquish the serried ranks of evil. You say with sincerity that it is not by might nor by power. Yet, human souls that touch You become magnetised. They gain a spiritual force the world cannot deny or resist. Oh! Let me touch you! Let me dwell in unbroken contact with You. Let divine energy flow into and through my eager spirit. It should flow, but never ebb. Lift me into a life of blessed ministry. Make deserts blossom like the garden of the Lord.

But how must we get and keep this sense of God’s nearness? Not possible to remove the adverb. Ah, have stood beside him, with an unanointed eye. We would have seen no ladder and heard no voice. The patriarch would find God in the bleak, joyless moors of our lives. We had trodden them without reverence.

Must we travel to the cave's mouth? There, Elijah stood, thrilled by the music of the still small voice, sweeter than the thunder and the storm. Alas! Some have stood beside him, unaware of that Presence. If alive now, Elijah would sense it in the wind, the babbling of babies, and the rhythm of heartbeats.

If we had stood beside Paul at the third heaven, we would have seen only a tentmaker's shop or a dingy, rented room. We would be in the dark while he was in transports. If he lived again, he would see angels on our steamships, visions in our temples, and doors to heaven in our bleak skies.

In point of fact, we carry everywhere our circumference of light or dark. God is as much in the world as He was when Enoch walked with Him and Moses communed with Him face-to-face.

He is as willing to be a living, bright, glorious reality to us about them. But the fault is with us. We have unanointed eyes because our hearts are not right. The pure in heart still see God. To those who love Him and keep His commandments, He still shows Himself as He does not to the world. Let us stop to blame our times; let us blame ourselves. We are degenerate, not them. What, then, is that temper of soul that perceives the presence and nearness of God with the greatest ease? Let us endeavor to learn the blessed secret of abiding ever in the secret of His presence and of being hidden in His pavilion. “In the cover of your presence you hide them, from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues (Psalm 31:20).

Remember, at the outset, that neither you nor our race can have that glad consciousness of the presence of God except through Jesus. “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”(Luke 10:22); “ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”(John 14:6).

God's presence, apart from Jesus, terrifies devils and sinners. The latter hide among trees, weaving aprons for cover. But in Him, we break down all barriers, rent all veils, and disperse all clouds. The weakest believer may live where Moses sojourned, in the fire. No impurity can stand before its consuming flames.

Not possible to remove the adverb.” Sinners draw near through the blood of His Cross. His death revealed God's tender love. It also put away our sins. And, it wove us garments of pure beauty. In these, the King welcomes us into his inner chamber. Remember God said, “ There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel. ”(Exodus 25:22). You will realize His deep nearness when you fully join in His death and live in the spirit of His memorial supper. Now, as at Emmaus, He loves to make Himself known in the breaking of bread.

“And is this all? For I have heard this many times, and still fail to live in the secret place as I would." Exactly. Thus, to do what we cannot, our Lord has received from His Father the promise of the Holy Spirit. He should bring into our hearts the very presence of God. Understand that since you are Christ’s, the blessed Comforter is yours.

He is within you as He was within your Lord. As you live in the Spirit and walk in Him, you will become His Presence-chamber, filled with His glory. And as you realise that He is in you, you will realise that you are ever in Him. Thus the beloved apostle wrote, “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” (1 John 4:13). "I know all this. Yet, I fail to see the marvellous fact of the Spirit's indwelling in me. How can I then realise my indwelling in Him?" “It is because your life is so hurried.

You do not take enough time for meditation and prayer. You cannot discern the Spirit of God within you or the Presence of God without you when pleasure occupies your senses, your pulse races, or rushing thoughts fill your mind. It is when water stands that it becomes clear and reveals the pebbly beach below. Be still, and know that God is within you and around you. In the hush of the soul, the unseen becomes visible and the eternal real.

The eye dazzled by the sun cannot detect the beauties of its pavilion till it has had time to rid itself of the glare. Let no day pass without its season of silent waiting before God. Are there any other conditions that I should fulfil, so that I may abide in the secret of His presence?” Be pure in heart.

Every permitted sin encrusts the soul's windows with grime. It obscures the vision of God. But every victory over impurity and selfishness clears the spiritual vision. As if scales fall from the eyes.

In the power of the Holy Spirit, deny self, give no quarter to sin, resist the devil, and you will see God. The unholy soul could not see God, even though it was set down in the midst of heaven. But holy souls see God in the mundane. They find an open vision everywhere. Such could not be nearer God, though they stood by the sea of glass. Their only advantage would be a more perfect vision. They would tear the veil of their mortal, sinful natures. Keep His commandments. Let there be not one jot or tittle unrecognised and unkept. “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And my Father will love anyone who loves me, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21). Moses, the faithful servant, was also the prophet, and he spoke with God face to face as a man speaks with his friend.

Continue in the spirit of prayer. At times, the vision may be delayed. It tests your desire. At other times, it will come as the dawn steals over the sky. Before you are aware, you will sense His presence. He was even used to glide, unannounced, into His disciples' midst through unopened doors. “Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.” (Psalm 77:19).

Not possible to remove the adverb. Because He was a quickening power. As soon as He entered, He awoke my slumbering soul. He moved and pierced my heart, which was strange, stony, hard, and sick.

My soul could then bless the Lord. All within me praised His Holy Name.” Cultivate the habit of speaking aloud to God. We don't always express our desires because they are often too sacred or deep to put into words. But it is good to get the habit of speaking to God as a present friend while sitting in the house or walking by the way.

Talk things over with God. Share your letters, plans, hopes, mistakes, sorrows, and sins. Things look very different when brought into the calm light of His presence. One cannot talk long with God aloud without feeling that He is near.

Meditate much upon the Word. This is the garden where the Lord God walks. It is the temple where He dwells, and the presence-chamber where He holds court. Those who seek Him find it. It is through the word that we feed upon the Word. And He said, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” (John 6:56). Be diligent in Christian work. The place of prayer is the place of His presence. But, that presence would fade if we lingered there after the duty bell rang. We will ever meet it as we go about our necessary work: “You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?” (Isaiah 64:5).

As we go forth to our daily tasks, the angel of His presence comes to greet us and turns to go at our side. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19–20). We can be in the secret of His presence everywhere. Not just in temple courts, secluded glens, or sickrooms. But also in daily duties and common places. In the dullness of life, we can say, " Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”

" And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news ” (see 1 Kings 17:1; Luke 1:19).

Cultivate the habit of recognizing the presence of God. “Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!” (Psalm 65:4). There is no life like this. To feel that God is with us. He never leads us through a place too narrow for Him to pass as well.

We can never be lonely again, not for a moment. We are beset by Him behind and before, and covered by His hand. He could not be nearer to us, even if we were in heaven. To have Him as Friend, and Referee, and Counselor, and Guide. To know that, without the Captain of the Lord's host, there can be no Jericho in our lives. His invisible but mighty legions will make all walls fall. What wonder that saints of old waxed valiant in fight as they heard Him say, “ No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. ”(Joshua 1:5). Be gone fear and sorrow and dread of the dark valley! “In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.”(Psalm 31:20).