December 11

Where Can I Go? 

Today’s Scripture Readings: Psalm 139:7-12 | Amos 4:1-6:14 | Revelation 2:18-3:6 | Proverbs 29:21-22

Today’s Scripture Focus: Psalm 139:7-12

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you (Psalm 139:7-12 NIV).

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” Sometimes we try to hide from God’s presence. Adam tried that. It didn’t work then, it still doesn’t work. Jonah tried it too. Waking up in the mouth of a big fish is a pretty good reminder that running from God is a hard thing to do. “If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”

Sometimes we think God is hiding from us. Depending on our feelings to guide our perception, we forget the objective reality spoken of by the psalmist. Wherever we go, he is there. There is no place where God is not present. There is no circumstance we encounter where he is not near. “If I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me.”

Even in the deepest darkest circumstances of life, where we might feel abandoned by God, know that God is there and even the darkness is not dark to him. You may have trouble seeing clearly under the stresses of your circumstances. He sees and understands. He is with you whether you are able to sense it or not. “Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

Don’t run from his presence. You can’t hide. Don’t worry if you can’t feel his presence. Wherever you are, he is there.

Father, where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? Even when I am not aware of it, you are present with me. Thank you for your presence. Help me to walk with you today. Amen.