Does God "Show Up" or is He Omnipresent?

I was asked this question recently (not an exact quote): "What do we mean by God 'showing up' isn't He with us all the time?"

That's a good question. I hope I can dignify it with a good answer.

The Omnipresence of God

One of the basic teachings on the nature of God is that God is omnipresent. That's a compound word from "omni" a Latin word meaning "all,"  and present (meaning exactly what it means); so omnipresent means all-present, or (clearer English) present everywhere. Not only is God present everywhere, He is everywhere there is, all at the same time. This is one of the ways God is not like us, nor anything else in creation. There are many passages of Scripture that teach this. I'll mention two here.

Psalm 139 demonstrates this truth:

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. (Ps. 139:7–8)

As does Jeremiah 23:23-24:

“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord. (Jer. 23:23–24)  

We cannot hide from God because He is everywhere. At the same time, wherever we go, we can be assured that God is already there.

The doctrine of God's omnipresence might sound a bit terrifying for those who are in rebellion against Him, but a great comfort to those who are serving Him, who are His children.

Once asserted, the truth about God's omnipresence would seem to silence any discussion about God "showing up." I mean, He didn't really "show up" because He was already here/there, right? This seems to be a matter of simple logic that if God already is somewhere, He can't go there. As I am writing this in my study, I'm in my study. It would not make any sense to say that although I already am in my study, I'm "showing up" in my study now. It's pretty simple. Right?

Yet God Does Come, Appear, "Show Up" in the Bible

In Genesis 3:8, after Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we read this: 

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. (Gen. 3:8)

Apparently, (or at least most Bible scholars agree) it was God's custom to take a walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. He was always there, nothing was hid from Him (as it says in the passages above), and yet He seems to "show up" with them to go for a walk.

In Deuteronomy 12 God tells His people about the uniqueness of the tabernacle (later it was replaced by the temple). The people were to bring their offerings and sacrifices there, not just anywhere. In verse 7 we read this:

There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you. (Deut. 12:7)

God is everywhere, but if that's true, He seems to be especially present in His tabernacle (later temple). In fact, God appeared in a special way to Moses on the mountain to tell him these things (and much more, of course). The pillars of cloud and fire were said to be the Lord guiding them (Ex. 13:21, e.g.).

One of the most dramatic examples of the Lord "showing up" is in 2Chronicles 7 at the dedication of the temple of Solomon:

When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “He is good; his love endures forever.” (2Chron. 7:1–3)  

This is to say nothing of the numerous times God appears to people, or of angels who stand in the presence of God--I could go on, but I think I made my point. The Bible talks about the omnipresence of God, but also talks about His presence on certain occasions, and makes no apology for asserting both truths. Is it a dilemma, a paradox, or what?

God's General Presence and Special Presence

One way of thinking about this to resolve the apparent contradiction is to consider God's omnipresence as a sort of general presence, and these other occasions as instances of God's special presence. 

Imagine a family patriarch or matriarch sitting in a chair in a living-room full of family members. Imagine everything is going well, and this patriarch or matriarch is enjoying the get-together immensely, though up until now has remained silent, simply enjoying the laughter and fun. Now imagine that patriarch or matriarch in the middle of a conversation, standing ready to speak. All eyes turn to him or her and the conversation stops. What just happened? He or she was already in the room, but now his or her presence fills it in a new way. Grandpa or Grandma was there, but now something else about them, some purpose or awareness "shows up," and all sense it.

In a similar way, though God is always and everywhere present, sometimes He seems to get up out of His chair (so to speak), and we notice. In fact, we may not have noticed God's presence before but now we do. We may even say "God just showed up." He was always there, and in a general sense, we may all know that. But now, something happened to draw our awareness toward Him.

A simple answer to the puzzle would be to simply assert that our experience of God "showing up," is merely a subjective matter. That is, He always was "in the room" it's just that we now experience that more clearly. That's a real possibility. This is Jacob's response to the place where he used a rock for a pillow, when God "showed up" in a dream about a stairway to heaven (Gen. 28:17). I suppose that many times this is true.

But that doesn't seem to fit the entire picture in the Bible. There are times when God's presence seems to be intensified, as during the dedication of the temple (as noted above). In those cases, God's presence is intensified and unmistakable. It's sort of like always being in the room, but standing up in order to be noticed because He has something important to say, do, or demonstrate.

Does God Still "Show Up" at Our Meetings?

I've heard the idea of God "showing up" referred to as something silly, since God is always at our meetings, in fact Jesus promised "Where two or three come together..." (Matt. 18:20). So God is present in our meetings, perhaps in more than the general sense of God's omnipresence, but in some special sense, whether we know it or not. Right?

Well yes! That's right! Now, Jesus isn't actually talking about gathering for worship in that passage, He's probably talking about people coming together in agreement (perhaps after resolving conflict-check the context). But I do think it applies in the sense we usually quote this verse as well: whenever and wherever we gather in His Name. We even have the promise at the end of Matthew that He is with us always and forever with us (28:20).

Yet, there seems to be times, from at least a subjective perspective, when God's presence seems more real, more obvious, easier to experience. I am willing to grant that this may be entirely subjective, but I would be more comfortable saying that God's Spirit, Who lives within us, opens the eyes of our hearts so that we can know (experience) Him and His goodness more clearly (cf., Eph. 1:7-8). 

In Paul's injunction to keep on being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), the results are authentic worship and authentic relationship (vv.19,ff). But there's something else going on there: being filled. "We already have the Spirit within, so how can we be filled?" one might ask. This looks like yet another example of the general and special special presence of God (this time in the person of the Holy Spirit). But it's not merely subjective; it's not "tuning in" to the Spirit. This is a passive imperative in the Greek text, meaning that this is something that happens to us (passive), that we are instructed to let happen (imperative). We don't do it (subjective), God does it to us. Further, we shouldn't read this as happening merely to individuals, but to people gathered together as the Church.

So yes, the Bible teaches both the omnipresence of God and that God at times seems to, or really does "show up" in our lives and in our meetings. It's not silly or nonsensical to say so, though some assert that it is. Furthermore, it follows the Bible's teaching about God and how He is at work among His people.

God "Turns Up the Volume"

Let me end this blog entry on an entirely subjective note (why not, right?). There have been times when I have experience God's special presence in a way that seemed like God's presence was not only felt, but seemed to intensify as the meeting progressed, or as the personal prayer time continued. It felt like God turned up the volume of His presence. 

This echoes the often heard refrain of many Pentecostals and charismatics: "More, Lord!" A prayer God sometimes (often?) answers by increasing the volume, or intensity of His presence. It's happened too often for me to dismiss as mere wishful thinking, or self-delusion. Too much good stuff happens when God "shows up" in this way: physical/inner healing, prophetic words/visions, supernatural peace/comfort, wonderful and amazing worship, and more!

This is sometimes called "the manifest presence" of God. That is God's presence made known, visible, able to be experienced. But I no longer understand this as sort of an on/off switch, as if God is all here, or not here. In my experience, it's more like a volume level on an audio device. Maybe we 'hear' better and better as we become aware of Him, or maybe He intensifies the manifestation quality of His presence so that we 'hear' better and better. But that's what it's been like for me many, many times.

In some meetings, I think folks get too satisfied with low levels of God's presence, when God is ready to "turn up the volume" even more. I've even been in meetings where God's presence fills the room, hearts are awakened to His presence, people begin to respond to His love and grace, and then we move on to the regular agenda for the meeting. [sigh] To be honest, I've done it myself: I thought I was supposed to. [deeper sigh] I've learned to always ask for more--for God to turn up the volume.

In the stories of revivals and awakenings throughout history, there are so many accounts of the manifest presence of God "taking over" a meeting. I think we should allow it in our meetings too. If all we have to offer the world and each other are truths about God, or moral imperatives from Him, we can expect the yawns and disinterest we get. But if God is among us (1Cor.14:25), then we have something to offer that everyone needs and wants more than anything else (even if they don't realize it) , since the God who "shows up" is amazingly, wonderfully, completely and in every way good.