Greg and Amy emphasize that while it’s good for us to cultivate our awareness of God’s presence, the idea of “seeking the presence of God” should not be confused with chasing after a feeling or spiritual high. Instead, we ought to seek God himself.
Transcript
Amy: Here’s a question from James: “What does it mean to seek the presence of God? As believers, don’t we already have God’s presence?”
Greg: Yeah, that’s a great question, and it’s very practical, and it’s one that I think about a lot. You know?
James says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” Now, it’s using kind of an approximation, a location analogy—get closer to. That’s spatial. But God isn’t spatial, and our souls aren’t spatial. Neither God’s essence nor our souls are located at a place in three-dimensional space. Our souls are not in our body in that sense. There’s no place for them to sit. There’s no need for that. They’re immaterial, so they don’t occupy three-dimensional space.
What James is talking about is something different, but it’s somewhat mysterious to me because he’s not talking about ontology—to use a metaphysical philosophical term—in other words, our existence. If the Spirit is in us, then we are united with the Spirit. We are born again. So, in one sense, God doesn’t get any closer to us than the new birth. Okay? And then we are spiritually born again, and the Spirit dwells within. We’re the temple of the Holy Spirit. So, it’s not spatial. But there’s, kind of, an intimacy there. So, a lot of times when people are saying they’re seeking God’s face—is that the way the language is?
Amy: The presence of God.
Greg: The presence of God. Sometimes, I think it’s probably synonymous with the idea of seeking God’s face. They are actively trying to feel closer to God—be aware of the presence of God. There’s a famous book called Practicing the Presence of God written many hundreds of years ago. Smaller booklet. But it’s just getting into the habit of being aware that God is there with you all the time.
I think of coram Deo. I was talking to my 17-year-old daughter who loved Latin, and I was talking about, you know, my own life, wanting to live coram Deo. I said, “Do you know what that means?” And she translated it for me in Latin. I said, “Yeah.” She just had the words. And I said, “Yeah, that means to be in the presence of God.” And I want to be aware all the time that I am in God’s presence and comport myself in a way that’s appropriate and be close to God, just like two people can be together. You could have sweethearts that get married. They just are always hanging out together. They’re in each other’s presence. Okay? They’re seeking that communion in relationship. And I think this is what this is talking about. It’s totally subjective awareness. It’s not anything metaphysical, since God is already in us. But it’s just this instructing our minds and our awarenesses, so to speak, of the fact that God is always there. He’s always with us. He’s always watching. He’s always caring. He’s always loving. There are different things you could focus in on, depending on the need of the moment. So, if you’re contemplating sin, then you’re thinking of God in a different way than if you’re seeking loving communion. Okay? There’s another aspect of God being there for you.
But I think it’s a very healthy thing. I think that’s what people mean as they’re trying to increase their awareness of God’s continual presence in their life—within them and around them, caring for them, walking with them. And that has, I think, a salutary, transformative effect on us.
Amy: Yeah, I think you’re right. I think it is an awareness of God. It is an intimacy with God. It comes in moments of intimacy when you’re praying, when you’re reading the Bible. And there is a certain desire for us to want this awareness of him because it’s beautiful. I mean, it is quite the experience.
Greg: It’s fleeting, though, somewhat.
Amy: It’s not all the time. And this is where I just want people to be careful because there was—one time, I read this book where—and it wasn’t about this topic, but it was about a completely different topic—but it always used the phrase “the presence of God” instead of just saying “God.” The presence of God. The presence of God. The presence of God. instead of just saying “God.” And, after a while, I started to think, what are you saying here? Because when I hear that, what I hear is that, if that’s all you’re saying, instead of just saying God, are you seeking an experience more than you’re seeking God himself? Is there a feeling you’re trying to get? Because the presence of God isn’t what we seek. We seek God. Now, experiencing his presence is a wonderful thing, but what you are seeking is not a feeling. What you are seeking is God himself and to know him and to be close to him.
Greg: Let’s even say to be close to him, though, suggests the intimacy that you want.
Amy: And this is, like I said, I think that experience is wonderful. But I just want people to be careful that they’re not seeking a feeling. The feeling results from being with God, but you should be seeking God. Sometimes you will have that feeling. Sometimes you won’t have that feeling. But if you’re chasing after a feeling, that puts you in, kind of, a danger of trying all these different practices to try and create this feeling within you. Whereas, in a real relationship, you’re seeking closeness to the person. And sometimes that is experienced in certain intimacy and feelings and experiences. Sometimes it isn’t. But you are desiring the person. You’re not using the person to gain an experience.
Greg: That’s a good way of putting it.
Amy: And, so, I just think it’s tricky just to make sure that you are seeking God and you’re seeking intimacy with God. And sometimes you will experience his presence in a way that you won’t experience if you’re not seeking intimacy with God. But just make sure you’re seeking God and not a feeling.