Experiencing the Presence of God

Experiencing the Presence of God

In the deep recesses of man’s soul lies an overwhelming yearning toward the Creator. This is a common thread through all humanity. Unless and until that desire is fully met, the human soul remains restless, constantly striving for that which is ultimately unattainable.
To any discerning Christian, it is easy to see that people are in an awful spiritual and moral mess today. A person must know where he is before he can comprehend where he needs to be. The solution, however, is not within the scope of human endeavor. The highest ideal or accomplishment of man is to break from the spiritual bondage and enter into the presence of God, knowing that you have entered welcomed territory.
Within every human breast rages this desire, driving him forward. Many a person confuses the object of that desire and spends his or her entire life striving for the unobtainable. Very simply put, the great passion in the heart of every human being, who are created in the image of God, is to experience the awesome majesty of God’s presence. The highest accomplishment of humanity is entering the overwhelming presence of God. Nothing else can satiate this burning thirst.
The average person, unable to understand this passion for intimacy with God, fills his life with things, hoping somehow to satisfy his inward longing. He chases that which is exterior, hoping to satisfy that inner thirst, but to no avail.
St. Augustine captured the essence of this desire in his Confessions: “Thou hast created us for Thyself and we are restless until we rest fully in Thee.” This explains, to a great degree, the spirit of restlessness pervading every generation and every culture––always striving but never coming to the knowledge of the truth of God’s presence.
John the Revelator voices something quite similar: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Rev. 4:11). It is God’s great pleasure for us to fully rest in His presence, moment by moment. God created man expressly for the use of His pleasure and fellowship. Nothing in or of this world measures up to the simple pleasure of experiencing the presence of God.
The spirit of restlessness breaking across the sea of humanity testifies to this truth. Our whole purpose as created beings is to utilize our time delighting in the manifest presence of our Creator. This presence is both intangible and indescribable. Some try explaining it, but only those with a personal, intimate knowledge of God’s presence can truly understand. Some things rise above explanation and human understanding, and this is one. Many Christians are filled with good information, but only a few mercy drops fall into their languid soul to satisfy the thirst for God’s presence. Too many have never burst into the dazzling sunlight of God’s conscious, manifest presence.

From Experiencing the Presence of God © 2010 by A.W. Tozer. Published by
Regal Books, www.regalbooks.com. Used by permission. All rights reserved.