Originally posted on 10/7/25
I have recently begun helping a friend one day a week with her three children. There are many times when all three children need something at the exact same moment. It is further complicated when the dog also needs something. If only I could be in more than one place at a time. I have often joked over the years about wishing I could be in two places at the same time. Unfortunately, as much as we wish it could be; it cannot. Probably the closest man has ever come to that is on TV shows like Bewitched or I Dream of Genie. God is not bound by place as humans are.
Jen Wilkin writes in her book, None Like Him, “A body is a set of limits. Our height determines the limit of what we can see standing in a crowd. Our mass determines the limit of how much water we will displace when we step into a swimming pool. Genetics–or more properly, God–detemines our arm-span and the size of our shoes. By tethering our spirits to a body, God decrees that we will be present where we are present, and nowhere else. Yet God, who is spirit, is able to be everywhere fully present. We capture this idea by attaching the prefix omni to the word presence. Omni literally means “all,” but the easiest way to read it is to substitute limitless in its place–God is omnipresent, limitlessly present. No physical body limits him to a particular place.” p. 94
God’s ability to be everywhere at once is another one of those concepts that is difficult for our brains to understand. When children are small, moms can usually figure out what a child is doing without actually seeing it happen. When a child suddenly becomes very quiet, trouble is often afoot. God is so much different from us–he sees and hears everything. He is not sitting behind a bank of cameras watching it happen or watching it after it happens. He sees it in real time. It does not matter who we are or where we are–God is with us everywhere. Scripture confirms it:
- Jeremiah 23:23-24 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.”
- 1 Kings 8:27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!”
- Isaiah 66:1 “Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?”
- Psalm 139:7-10 “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.”
- Acts 17:27-28 “that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’”
I find this statement by Jen Wilkin comforting as well as troubling, “Because he is fully present in all places, he has no boundaries of communication with his creatures–he can communicate freely at will with any or all of us in a way that even a global livestream can’t mimic.” Wilkin, P. 98 God never asks me to wait until he is finishing with someone else. When I pray, God is with me because that is his nature. He walks with me through every trial and rough patch of life. He also walks with me on the mountaintop. However, it would also do well for me to remember that I also cannot hide from his presence.
Prayer
Father God,
You possess so many qualities that are difficult for us to comprehend. We know that you are everywhere at once. Our minds cannot fully comprehend that concept because we are bound by so many constraints. We can trust in your nature. You are with each of us at one. We so not have to make at appointment and hope you are free. Thank you for these assurances.
In your name,
Amen
Link to other Attributes of God articles:
Image created with AI