Lynzey Guidry, Youth Director–Gethsemane

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

Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Reflection:
One of my favorite attributes of God is omnipresence, meaning God is everywhere at the same time. There isn’t a space in all of the universe where we can’t find God’s divine presence and we know the universe to be infinitely huge. It is a comforting reality to know that the God of the universe is always with us. Typically when we think of the omnipresence of God we think of it in terms of God always being around, and that’s not incorrect, but that’s not all. God’s omnipresence also encompasses the love of God. 

God’s love is omnipresent, in that there isn’t a place you can find yourself where God’s love can’t reach you. In essence, that’s what the psalmist is saying in Psalm 139. “No matter how low or high I go God is with me.” Sometimes it is hard to grasp just how expansive God’s love is, but the psalmist paints a picture of different extremes; we get this same picture of extremes from Paul in the passage from Romans, and it is absolutely beautiful.

These passages make me think of the song Wreckless Love by Cory Asbury. It gives us the imagery of God’s love that shows him fighting for us:

There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me

When I hear these lyrics, I imagine God as this action hero- like the dad on Taken– who will stop at nothing for his children. There is no person, place, thing, situation, or dark place that can keep God’s love from us.

What if we truly realized the incomparable greatness of God’s love for us?
Would it change the way we value ourselves and value others?
Would it diminish our need to accumulate accolades and possessions to look good in the eyes of others?
Would it give us the confidence boost we need to be unapologetically who God created us to be?
Would it motivate us to be better stewards of our bodies?
Would we be quicker to extend the same love and grace to other people? 

In the moments where I sit with the realization of God’s love, I feel invincible, empowered, and overwhelmed (in a good way). It’s a feeling like no other.

Right now is a good time to pause and take a few deep breaths and repeat three times, “God your love for me is omnipresent,” and reflect on what that means in your life and for the world.

Closing Prayer:
Thank you, God for your overwhelming, omnipresent love. I rest in knowing that not only are you always with me, but so is your love. There isn’t a place I could go or thing I can do that will separate me from you and that’s the most comforting reality I could ever face. I love you and I thank you for loving me. Amen.