Experiencing God's Presence #21

Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists . . .

Hebrews 11:6

It seems so basic. Anyone who wants to seek God must believe He actually exists. But since most people—and probably all of those in the original readership of the letter to the Hebrews—have believed God exists, the statement hardly seems necessary. Add that the statement is made to those who want to come to God, and it seems even stranger. Those who come to God wouldn’t be coming if they didn’t believe in His existence.

But the statement may be more insightful than we assume. For all our belief in God, many of us have lived as practical atheists—people for whom God is a rock-solid concept in our minds but who has no practical relevance to our daily lives. Many think about God, pray to Him sometimes, and assume He expects good moral behavior, but His Spirit doesn’t enter into their moment-by-moment decisions, they don’t hear or even listen for His voice, and they don’t live in His strength rather than their own. So though God exists, He doesn’t exist in any way that’s meaningful to them. And that doesn’t lead to any kind of meaningful experience with Him.

The first foundational truth in experiencing God’s Presence in a real way is to believe that He exists in practical terms—as an accessible, relatable personality. That’s the first step, but it’s so simple that we often forget it. God drifts to the back of our minds, and before we know it, He’s an idea, a quiet piece of background music to our lives. We have to continually bring Him back to the forefront—the object of our worship and the Person we relate to constantly. When we do, we begin an adventure into His very real Presence.

Lord, I not only believe You exist, I believe You want to be an integral part of every minute of my life. Let me not forget like many do; give me reminders of Your Presence moment by moment.

From the book