Where Is God?
Where is God? Do you ever think about where God is right now? Is he in this room? Is he in heaven? Is he in our hearts? Is he in the Amazon rainforest? Is he on top of Mount Everest? Is he on Mars? Is he in your apartment? Is he at UTD? Is he in your baby’s crib? Is he with your aging parents? Is he in your meetings and appointments this week? Where is God?
Listen to how A. W. Tozer answers this: “We should never think of God as being spatially near or remote, for He is not here or there but carries here and there in His heart. Space is not infinite, as some have thought; only God is infinite and in His infinitude He swallows up all space…He fills heaven and earth as the ocean fills the bucket that is submerged in it, and as the ocean surrounds the bucket so does God the universe He fills…God is not contained: He contains.”[1]
Tozer is saying that God surrounds and fills the universe with the sea of his presence. He alludes to Jeremiah 23:23-24, “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.” And Psalm 139, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” (v. 7)
The way theologians often explain God’s omnipresence, or his presence everywhere, is that God doesn’t have size or spatial dimensions. All of God is at every part of space. Yet he acts differently in different places. While he’s spatially present everywhere, he’s specially present with his children. God is with those who trust him, and in them. Paul says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” (1 Cor. 6:19)
God is specially present with his people, to protect and help and comfort and bless them. If you belong to Christ, all of God is always with you to bless you.
God Will Always Be with His People
God’s special presence with his people is something Isaac had to learn in Genesis 26. Abraham dies in chapter 25 and gives all he had to his son Isaac. Then in chapter 26 we learn that God’s promises and presence are now with Isaac. God was with Abraham and he’ll be with Isaac. The point of this chapter and this sermon is that God’s special presence is with his special people.
In this chapter, we’ll see the promise of God’s presence (vv. 1-5), sin and conflict in God’s presence (vv. 6-22), God’s presence in the present (vv. 23-25), and the evidence of God’s presence (vv. 26-35).
The Promise of God’s Presence
In verses 1-5, we see the promise of God’s presence. Just like his father Abraham, Isaac sought to go to Egypt during a famine. But the Lord halts him by appearing to him and telling him to stay in Canaan. If he obeys, the five-fold blessing of the covenant will be his. God will be with him, God will bless him, God will give the land of Canaan to him and his descendants, God will multiply his offspring “as the stars of heaven,” and God will bless the world through his family (vv. 3-4).
The one blessing of the covenant that’s explicitly stated here for the first time is God’s promise of his presence, “I will be with you” (v. 3). God was with Abraham as well. He said that he was his shield (15:1) and others said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do” (21:22). But here for the first time God explicitly promises that his special presence will be with his special people.
This couldn’t have come at a better time for Isaac! Think about what God is asking him to do here. He told him not to go to Egypt but to stay in Canaan during the famine. In Egypt, there would’ve been abundant water from the Nile for his flocks. In Gerar, there was a famine and, as we’ll see, finding water would be a real challenge.
Do you see what the Lord is doing with Isaac? He’s testing his faith. Humanly speaking, staying in Gerar was a bad decision. But God told him to stay. God called Isaac to stay in Canaan as a resident alien with no legal status and no water, totally dependent on the goodwill of the pagan community around him. If he did, God said that he’d be with him and bless him.
Obedience-Producing Grace
This call to a dangerous and vulnerable sojourn in Canaan came with a reminder of Abraham’s faithful obedience (v. 5). Abraham didn’t earn God’s blessing. He received it by grace. His response to the commands of God proved that he was in covenant with God. Abraham’s works proved his faith.
God’s blessing in Christ comes to us by grace alone and is received by faith alone, and when we truly receive Christ, obedience is the result. We aren’t a Christian just because we say we are, just like we wouldn’t be the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys just because we say we are. Those who’ve truly trusted in Christ will live a life of increasing obedience to Christ. How can we say we love someone we ignore? How can we say we’re following someone we aren’t actually following?
This doesn’t mean that we have to be perfect to be Christian. It means that to be Christian is to be growing in obedience to God. Dane Ortlund asks, “Can true believers sin their way out of the mercy of God? May it never be. The apostle Paul insists with reassuring clarity that where sin piles up, grace piles up even higher. God’s answer for those who squander his grace through folly is: more grace. In Jesus, this unending fountain of inexhaustible grace has been secured.”[2]
Isaac obeys God and stays in Gerar (v. 6). The kind of grace that he and Abraham, and every true child of God since, received from God was an obedience-producing grace. If we’re content to just do what we want, when we want, how we want, it’s likely that God’s grace hasn’t set us free from ourselves. Christ came to set us free from the harsh taskmaster of sin and self.
Sin and Conflict in God’s Presence
In verses 6-22, we see sin and conflict in God’s presence. God’s presence with his people doesn’t mean that we won’t make mistakes or run into problems in the world. Isaac had God’s special presence. But he still had sin at home and conflict at work.
In verses 6-11, he tries the “my wife is my sister” trick that his dad had tried twice (chs. 12 and 20). This is his first instinct when fear overtakes his heart. For good or bad, don’t we also revert back to what we learned at home when we’re afraid?
Verse 8 even says that Isaac had been living out this lie for a “long time.” Meaning that he was persisting in this foolishness and fear. Instead of caring for Rebekah and doing whatever he must to protect her, in his fear he created a plan of self-protection.
Husbands, Don’t Be Like Isaac
Husbands, you’re called to be loyal to your wives, no matter what it costs you. Whether you’re in the lush regions of the Nile or the arid wilderness of Gerar, your calling is her safety and provision. Last week, the Dallas Morning News ran a story on how Dallas is ranked the number one city for infidelity in marriages.[3] This means that we have the opportunity to show our city a better way, a way to life and peace and flourishing and stability and honor.
If you’re thinking about cheating on your spouse, please don’t. I plead with you to understand that you’ll only make your life harder, not easier. There are consequences that will touch your family for generations. You’ll have to talk to God about your actions. Your neck is likely to get caught in the barb-wire fence if you try to taste what you think will be greener grass on the other side. The Bible says, “Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is he who goes into his neighbor’s wife; none who touches her will go unpunished…He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself. He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away” (Pro. 6:27-29, 32-33).
There’s help for you if you’re contemplating these things. If you’re a member of this church, God has given you elders to watch over your souls, but we can’t care for you if you don’t let us. He’s given you other members to walk with. Member or not, there are professional counselors I’d love to connect you with. You don’t have to struggle alone.
Blessing Despite Conflict
Amazingly Isaac’s foolishness doesn’t disqualify him from God’s blessing. God prospered him in the land of the Philistines, so much so that they wanted him to leave, so he did (vv. 12-16).
God’s special presence to bless him was with him, but that didn’t keep him from sin at home and conflict at work. Despite God’s blessing, he has to deal with people at work who just wanted to quarrel over everything (vv. 17-22).
The astonishing thing about the wells is that Isaac kept finding water in the middle of a famine. This is evidence that God was with him to bless him, despite the antagonism of his neighbors.
Isaac, like Abraham, enjoyed the fruit of God’s blessing in the midst of conflict (v. 22). Verse 22 alludes to 1:28, where God told Adam and Eve to “be fruitful…and fill the land.” Isaac’s life is meant to picture the kind of abundance and fullness that God intended his people to enjoy.
But this story also teaches us that he didn’t enjoy the fullness of these blessings. He, like us, had to live in a world of adversity and affliction. But God didn’t leave him when conflict came. He continued to bless him and lead him into rest and, as we see next, worship.
God’s Presence in the Present
In verses 23-25, we see God’s presence in the present. Isaac moved to Beersheba, where his dad had lived for many years, and the Lord appeared to him again. The promise of God’s presence is reaffirmed and brought front and center and is in the present tense, “I am with you” (v. 24).
We know that Isaac believed this word from the Lord because he responded like anyone who truly believes the word of God (v. 25). The Lord’s promise and presence created worship. When we truly believe that God is with us, our faith expresses itself in worship.
Christians Must Gather Regularly for Worship
This is why followers of Jesus are commanded to gather regularly with a local church. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
If we neglect meeting together, how will we be able to encourage one another and “stir up one another to love and good works”? Your attendance isn’t just for your benefit, but for the benefit of the whole church. Your attendance doesn’t make you more spiritual or holy than anyone else. Rather, it gives you more opportunities to minister to others and be ministered to by others. As Mark Dever says, “Attendance is perhaps our most basic ministry to each other.”
Membership in a church should result in a living commitment that’s reflected through regular attendance. How can a church honestly affirm that a person is still following Christ if that person is invisible to them?
This is why we need to take notice of those who slowly, or not so slowly, slip away from attending, in order that we can bring them back or care for them if they have special needs.
The Evidence of God’s Presence
In verses 26-33, we see the evidence of God’s presence. This chapter begins with Isaac on his way to Egypt because of famine, and ends with him enjoying water in Canaan. This is tangible evidence that God is indeed with Isaac.
God’s presence with Isaac is even affirmed by his unbelieving friends (v. 28). Their view was based on Isaac’s material blessings and they were right, God was with Isaac to bless him.
Today, however, we can’t measure God’s presence with someone based on their material wealth. If so, then Jesus himself would be judged to be without the presence of God. Today the world will see the Lord’s presence in our lives through less obvious ways.
People will see and sense the presence of God in our lives when it’s clear that Jesus is our most precious possession. When people see us loving our enemies, opening our home to serve others, blocking off every Sunday morning to be with the church, pursuing our work with excellence even when we may not like our job or our boss or our coworkers, loving and staying faithful to our spouses, seeing our children as a blessing rather than a burden, pursuing school with diligence and integrity, living below our income level so that we’ll have more money to give away, and loving one another deeply, they’ll see and sense that God is really among us. When people see a unity in the church built around Jesus and his gospel rather than political opinions, schooling methods, music style, skin color, or income level, they’ll see and sense that God is among us.
What do people see when they put you and your family under a microscope? Or our church? Do they see faith, hope, and love increasing despite daily battles with sin and conflict? Do they see zeal for material wealth or spiritual realities? Do they see a joyful unity in Christ or factions based on preferences?
God’s Presence Removes Fear
Where is God? All of God is present everywhere all the time. But God is specially present to bless his people. His special presence is with his special people.
This is good news for a generation that’s so desperately lonely. Tony Reinke points out, “The smartphone is causing a social reversal: the desire to be alone in public and never alone in private.” Why are we so quick to hide when we’re around people? Because we’re afraid. Why are we so quick to connect with people when we’re alone? Because we long for connection.
Into this confusing and hellish and heart-crushing reality, Almighty God says to you, “Fear not, for I am with you” (Isa. 43:5). “Fear not, for I am with you and I will bless you” (Gen. 26:24). “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me…And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18, 20).
Do you believe that God is with you right now in the hurt and pain and adversity and sin and shame and confusion and conflict and doubt that you’re going through? Do you believe that he’s been with you over all your years, through all the ups and downs? Do you believe that God will be with you going forward?
The promise for those in Christ is, as the hymn says, “Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!”
The promise of God’s presence creates a deepening faith and humility and confidence and joy. It doesn’t exempt us from sin or conflict, but it does drive away fears.
Remember what the Lord says to Joshua as he leads Israel into the unknown across the Jordan River, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9).
When we believe that God is specially present with us, as Isaac came to believe, our lives are forever changed. We don’t have to be afraid. We don’t have to hide. We can engage people without fear. We can know that we’re not alone even when we are alone. We can stop trying to fix everything ourselves. We can run to God for help. We can live with confidence. We can rest in his love. On the cross, Jesus purchased the abiding presence of God for everyone who knows that they can’t live without him.
[1]A. W. Tozer, Born After Midnight (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1959), 119-20, quoted in R. Kent Hughes, Genesis: Beginning and Blessing, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 339.
[2]Dane Ortlund, In the Lord I Take Refuge: 150 Daily Devotions through the Psalms (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021), 108.
[3]Dallas ranks No. 1 for infidelity, new index says. A former ‘Cheaters’ host has theories (msn.com)