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?

Psalm 139:7-11

One may argue that it’s impossible to walk in our purpose when we are ignorant of our design. Why are we here? What plants our feet to the earth, filling us with reason and meaning? The beginning of the biblical narrative tells us that we are rooted in the person and presence of God. We embody the image of God, which draws us back to our innate belovedness and likeness to our Creator. The world may be broken, but all is not lost. God is a good Creator, and he declared that he made a good creation.

Our God exists in a perfect triune relationship. Father, Son, and Spirit dwell together in seamless unity. They express belonging within their connection, and it is from this belonging that we stem. Just as it is impossible for God to divide his nature and abandon himself, it is impossible for us to be separated from the love of God. This reality has been apparent to humanity for millennia, as the psalmist so poetically expressed, “Where could I go to get away from your spirit? If I went up to heaven, you would be there. If I went down to the grave, you would be there too!” (Ps. 139:7-8). “Whither shall I go from the all-pervading Spirit – from God, considered as a spirit?” This is a clear statement that God is a “Spirit” (compare John 4:24); and that, as a spirit, he is Omnipresent–Bible Hub

God gifted us his manifestation of the Holy Spirit when Jesus ascended into heaven. This pervasive Spirit is a continual reminder of our belonging with the Triune God, a promise of companionship, an abiding nearness, a permeating presence. God’s presence is a promise of power and authority; since we carry the same Spirit which raised Christ from the dead, we have been permanently adopted into God’s family and can exercise our rights as heirs with dignity. We can acknowledge and recognize when the Spirit of God is moving because it is the same Spirit that moves and enlivens us. 

The presence of God continually draws us back to the Person of God; God’s nature, God’s holiness, and God’s kingdom mission. It is a reminder that we participate in the Triune relationship and are meant to be examples of holy relationships before the world. The presence of God is always transformational—taking us from glory to glory, reminding us of our kinship with Christ, and breaking the strongholds of sin.

Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? – Hebrew, From his face; that is, where he will not be, and will not see me. I cannot find a place – a spot in the universe, where there is not a God, and the same God. Fearful thought to those that hate him – that, much as they may wish or desire it, they can never find a place where there is not a holy God! Comforting to those that love him – that they will never be where they may not find a God – their God; that nowhere, at home or abroad, on land or on the ocean, on earth or above the stars, they will ever reach a world where they will not be in the presence of that God – that gracious Father – who can defend, comfort, guide, and sustain them. Bible Hub

The most holy and important practice in the spiritual life is the presence of God – that is, every moment to take great pleasure that God is with you

Brother Lawrence