Idea #1 - God is present.

It is believed (at least by most lower elementary students) that teachers DO have eyes in the back of their head.  There is no scientific evidence to support this but the experience in the classroom certainly confirms it.  How can The Teacher be “over there” and yet know what is happening “right here?”  Being married to a teacher for many years, I can confirm the absence of eyes in the back of the head.  There are, however, techniques which they use to give that illusion.  Penn and Teller would be jealous if they knew.  Alas, I am sworn to keep the secret of these skills lest a student read this and use that knowledge to promote chaos in the classroom.  HOW teachers know these things must remain an enigma.

It is most important that the students believe that teachers know.  Even if the teacher doesn’t know (rare), the students MUST believe they DO.  This is the foundation to all classroom management.  If this mentalist illusion-based system were ever discovered by the students, all discipline would break down and our educational system as we know it would grind to a halt.

All of us face limitations in what we can know and how we can know it.  With life experience we can learn cues to help us “read” life situations.  We are also prone to misread those cues, to jump to wrong conclusions, or to be in complete ignorance.  Because this is part of the human reality, it is almost natural to transfer those perceptions to our understanding of God.

To combat this inaccuracy, we often hear the phrase, “God is everywhere.”  The thought behind this is the doctrine of God’s omnipresence:  God is always present everywhere all the time.  This is a true statement but not necessarily an accurate one.  Here’s why:  this statement would imply that God is present not only life situations but also “in” the stuff of life - in the grass, the trees, the stones.  

Our existence does not take place in a spiritual ether that saturates everything.  God is not an energy force which flows through our reality.  He is a Person.

Let’s clarify this.  God is NOT everywhere.  Rather, all things are in His presence.  The implications of this statement are significant.  Because this is true, it means God must be the Creator.  It means God has authority over all things.  It means He is aware and engaged with His creation.  He providentially cares for what He has created.

As our knowledge of the nature and character grows (Peter calls it “growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”), we become aware that His grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness toward us.  This is just one dynamic of living in His presence.  

Belief impacts everything.  We believe all of life - even the hideous, ugly, and unrighteous events - happen in God’s presence.  We thus have confidence that someday He will bring justice.  There will be accountability (for all of us) before Him because He knows.  Life is lived in His presence.

The denial or distortion of this truth has serious consequences.  Job’s friends challenged him, “What does God know?  Can He judge through the deep darkness?” (Job 22:13).  Asaph was jealous of the wicked who appeared to get away with everything.  They didn’t care about their behaviour, asking “How can God know?  Is there knowledge in the Most High?” (Psa. 73:11).  Unless we understand that life IS lived in the presence of God, we will be vulnerable to join the chorus of scoffers who think they can get away with “it.”  We will wonder if God really does care for us.

In contrast, the hope of Israel was expressed by Isaiah, “Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God?’  Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable” (Isa. 40:27-28).  

To be fair, there are many times in life when His presence seems to be hidden.  We live by faith.  The object of that faith is the Creator God before whom (in whose presence) all of life happens.  This is not God being “Big Brother.”  This is not celestial spying.  This is confidence and comfort of having a relationship WITH Almighty God before whom all of life transpires.

Just like the elementary students in the classroom, our perceptions do not define reality.  Unlike elementary students, living in God’s presence is not an illusion.  

This is a truth that gives us perspective, context, and hope.  We are - now and always - in the presence of God!