Where is God?

This is a super fantastic question, "Where is God?"

Since God is Spirit and not physical, we can’t use our physical senses to see, hear, smell, taste or touch him. So how do we know where he is?

Let’s go to the Bible and see what it says …

In the book of Jeremiah God said, “Am I only a God nearby, and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth?” (Jeremiah 23:23, 24)

In Psalm 139 King David wrote, “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night – but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.” (Psalm 139:7-12a)

In Matthew 28:20 Jesus told us, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Bottom line, there is no place where God is not. I have to admit, this kind of thinking is waaaaayyyy beyond my brain capacity but we must try to understand that God is able to be present everywhere because he is Spirit. He is not confined to a physical existence. God is not limited by human categories, human experience, or human reason.

But – and this is the best part – knowing that God is present everywhere not only means that you don’t need to feel alone, it means you don’t need to feel afraid. No matter what you are facing, you face it with God at your side!

Is suicide a sin?

Wow. Thanks for a tough question! I believe the Bible is very clear on this matter: the answer is Yes. But, don’t forget, suicide is just one of a number of sins mankind has committed against God. To God, suicide is the same as stealing, worshipping false gods, not honoring your parents and even taking the Lord’s name in vain. He doesn’t make one sin worse than another. To God, sin is sin.

Let me explain why the Bible says it’s a sin. In the New Testament, there are two places in 1 Corinthians where I believe God speaks to this. First off, let me just say that the word “suicide” is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible. But, listen to these two verses:

“Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

The Apostle Paul is telling the people of Corinth that their bodies are temples of the Lord and that the Holy Spirit lives in that temple. Basically, your body is sacred and God won’t take kindly to anyone who destroys His temple. Furthermore, God really stresses that we’re to honor Him with our bodies. Killing our own bodies does not honor God and also violates one of God’s original commandments:

“You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13)

Remember, God is the One who decides how long your life will be (Psalm 139: 15-16, Psalm 39:4). When a person decides to commit suicide, they are taking that decision away from God. Is that a sin? Absolutely. It also the ultimate waste of a life that Jesus gave His own life for! He didn’t suffer and die on the cross just to have a person throw away the life He gave everything for. So, yes, suicide is a sin.

But, also realize that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23). The Bible also tells us that there is no one righteous, not one! (Romans 3:10) The only person who was completely perfect and lived without sin was Jesus Christ, who was crucified for all of our sins. He paid the price for all of us so that we could have eternal life with God, the Father. And it is through the power of His resurrection that we are saved! The Holy Bible is very clear on this:

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)

So, if you admit your sins, believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and then commit to repenting (or turning away from the sins) and following Jesus, then you become God’s child. And, because you are God’s child, you are an heir to the inheritance of eternal life with Him in Heaven!!! Isn’t that awesome???

If you die when you are a baby, how can you know Christ?

Wow! That is an awesome question and one that has caused a lot of people to think, discuss and argue for an answer. And to be perfectly honest, the Bible does not tell us directly. I cannot find any Biblical scripture, either in the Old Testament or the New Testament, which addresses this issue directly.

So, we should probably start with a look at the character of God. What do we know about God? Well, the Bible teaches us that God is loving. The Bible teaches us that God is just. The Bible teaches us that God cannot sin or do evil. So what happens to a baby in the hands of our God when that baby never even has a chance to know God?

Part of the good news is that it’s not just about us knowing God but also God knowing us. And He knows us better than we know ourselves! In fact, we were known even before we were born!

Look what Psalm 139:13-16 says:

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

See how the psalmist says we are fearfully and wonderfully made! He emphasizes that God’s works are “wonderful.” God knew us while we were still being formed!

That’s not to say that once we are old enough to know Christ ourselves that we aren’t accountable to Him to make our own decision to accept Him as Lord and Savior, but if we are not yet old enough to know Him – and no baby is – then He covers us by His intimate knowledge of us. Amazing, isn’t it? Our God is great! Based on this scripture of God’s intimate involvement with your creation (and there are certainly other scripture passages as well) and knowing God’s loving and just character, we can say with some assurance that babies that die will go to Heaven and will know Christ.

If God gave us great things in life, why does he take them away sometimes?

Wow!! That is an amazing question! And it is such a difficult question to answer because the answer can be so frustrating at times. It’s almost like when you’re mom or dad says, “Because I said so…that’s why!”

Let me first start by telling you about the character of God. As hard as it is for us to understand this, God is good all the time. God can do no evil. He’s not like some angry, evil person who delights in watching us suffer. God loves you and only wants what is best for you.

The Bible has many scriptures relating to God’s love for us; in fact, one of the greatest scripture verses is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, and whoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God gave us Jesus and what’s really amazing is this: “But God demonstrates His love for us in this: while we were still sinners he sent His son to die for use.” (Romans 5:8)

I quote these two verses to show you how much God loves you. One of my favorite Scripture passages is Jeremiah 29:11-13, which reads, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Wow! The Lord of all creation loves us all so much that He wants us all to prosper and to be protected. He also wants to give you a hope and a future.

He also promises us that He will listen to us through prayer! We also know that He loves us deeply and because of that He “knit us in our mother’s womb” and we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:13-14) We know that He thinks about us so much and so often that the sheer number would outnumber the grains of sand on a beach (Psalm 139:18).

So then the obvious question is why does He sometimes take away the great things in life? Honestly, I don’t know why. What I do know is that God has a plan that is much bigger than we can even imagine. There is no way for us to fully understand why God does some things because we tend to look at it from only our perspective.

Let’s look at the earthquake in Haiti, for example. It is so easy for us to ask, “Why did God kill all those people?” But, here’s the thing: God didn’t kill anyone. He allowed certain things to happen and He allowed some people to die, but He didn’t set out to kill them. I know it’s hard to understand but God doesn’t kill people, either out of anger or to punish them. He does allow it and He does have a reason for allowing it to happen … we just don’t know why or can understand God’s thinking. God is a “big picture” kind of God and we’re more the “in-the-moment” thinkers and reactors.

Remember though, there were some miracles that occurred down there too. I read a story about a child who was found alive after SEVEN days without food or water. How does that happen??? Even more amazing, they found a 69-year old woman alive after TEN days. How is that possible??? Ten days without food or water??? I can’t even go a day without eating or drinking something. One survivor, who was trapped under a collapsed building, talks about confessing his sins and giving his life to Jesus … only to be rescued within hours of that prayer. Another woman was pinned under a house in a kneeling position and was stuck in that position for FIVE days. She said that during the entire time, THE ENTIRE TIME, she was praying to Jesus. And when they found her and dug her out, she was able to walk into her husband’s arms.

There was an orphanage in a small town called Petion-Ville. Do you know that while every building around the orphanage collapsed, including a building that housed volunteers, the main orphanage did not collapse and every child survived? How do we explain that?

How do we explain any of those miracles? I’m sure there are many more but those are the ones I can remember. It’s because God also has a plan for each and every survivor. Do I know what his reasons are? Absolutely not! But, my faith in God is so strong that I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that it fulfilled God’s overall divine plan. One of my favorite Bible verses is a simple one and one that is easy to remember. It is Proverbs 3:5-6 and it says, “Trust in the Lord, your God, with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”

We have to trust God’s will despite what we see as being so sad and so tragic. And know and put your faith in the fact that God is good.

If God loves everyone so much, why would He kill so many people in Haiti?

Wow, awesome question! And it’s a difficult one to answer because we do not know how God’s mind works. Even though we know God’s unstoppable plan by reading the Holy Bible, we cannot fathom some of the things He allows during the course of that plan.

But, we do know some things as absolute truths. We know that God is good all the time and that He cannot do evil. We know that He loves us deeply and because of that He “knit us in our mother’s womb” and we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:13-14) We know that He thinks about us so much and so often that the sheer number would outnumber the grains of sand on a beach (Psalm 139:18).

So, knowing about God’s goodness and His love for us, it’s only natural to ask why He killed so many people in Haiti. But, here’s the thing: God didn’t kill anyone. He allowed certain things to happen and He allowed some people to die but He didn’t kill them. I know it’s hard to understand but God doesn’t kill people, either out of anger or to punish them. But, He does allow it and He does have a reason for allowing it to happen … we just don’t know why or can understand God’s thinking. God is a “big picture” kind of person and we’re more the “in-the-moment” thinkers and reactors.

Remember though, there are some miracles that have occurred down there too. I read a story about a child who was found alive after SEVEN days without food or water. How does that happen??? Even today, they found a 69-year old woman alive after TEN days. How is that possible??? Ten days without food or water??? I can’t even go a day without eating or drinking something. One survivor, who was trapped under a collapsed building, talks about confessing his sins and giving his life to Jesus … only to be rescued within hours of that prayer. Another woman was pinned under a house in a kneeling position and was stuck in that position for FIVE days. She said that during the entire time, THE ENTIRE TIME, she was praying to Jesus. And when they found her and dug her out, she was able to walk into her husband’s arms.

There was an orphanage in a small town called Petion-Ville called the Fr. Wasson Center. Do you know that while every building around the orphanage collapsed, including a building that housed volunteers, the main orphanage did not collapse and every child survived? How do we explain that?

How do we explain any of those miracles? I’m sure there are many more but those are the ones I can remember. It’s because God also has a plan for each and every survivor. Do I know what his reasons are? Absolutely not! But, my faith in God is so strong that I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that it fulfilled God’s overall divine plan.

One of my favorite Bible verses is a simple one and one that is easy to remember. It is Proverbs 3:5-6 and it says, “Trust in the Lord, your God, with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”

We have to trust God’s will despite what we see as being so sad and so tragic. And know, just know and put your faith in, the fact that God is good.

How do we know God is in existence?

That is a great question! And, a pretty deep question … it’s not whether or not God created the world but whether or not there is a God, right? So, let me give you six reasons why I believe there is a God:

(1) The sheer complexity of our planet … it’s size, shape, the way it rotates, its gravity, its temperature, the right mixture of oxygen and nitrogen so that we can breathe… shows that there had to be a deliberate designer. It just couldn’t have happened by chance.

(2) For many, many years scientists have believed that the universe began with one big explosion of gas and light, which many people call the “Big Bang” theory. They believed this was the singular start of everything as we know it. That means at one time, it didn’t exist. It had a start somewhere…so what caused that? Guess what? Scientists can’t answer that question. We know, from Genesis 1:1 that, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

(3) How do we explain how nature works? There are certain things that are “for sure things” in our world…they are called universal laws. For example, why does gravity remain consistent? Why does the speed of light not change? Why does a hot cup of cocoa left on a table become cold? Basically, why are things so reliable?!?! I’ll tell you why: we have a God in Heaven that made it that way. He was deliberate in the way things are.

(4) How does DNA work? Do you know that each one of us has our own unique DNA? There are no two human beings that have the same DNA. No two human beings have the same fingerprint…not even twins! Computer programs are very complex, would you agree? But a person’s DNA…their genetic code...has three billion numbers and letters telling a cell to act in a certain way. How is that possible? Because you are fearfully and wonderfully made by a Father in Heaven and He created your inmost being. (Psalm 139:13-15)

(5) We know God exists because He pursues us. He is constantly inviting us to come to Him. The fact that you wonder about Him is great! That means He is on your mind. He wants us to ask questions about Him and He wants you to know Him. God loves you more than anyone ever has or anyone ever will. He loves you so much, He gave His one and only Son for you so that you would never perish but have eternal life! (John 3:16)

(6) Finally, unlike any other religion or revelation of God, Jesus Christ is the clearest, most specific picture of God revealing himself to us. No one else in the history of religions has claimed to be God. Jesus did. No one else has ever died and rose again. Jesus did. Jesus said that God exists and that you’re looking at Him! Jesus did things that only God can do. He performed miracles and caused blind people to see and deaf people to hear. He made the lame walk again and even raised the dead!

So, does God exist? If you look at the six facts that I have listed, could you say He does?

How come God loves the ones who sins?

It is because our God is a loving God. He has what's known as "agape" love for us...in fact, there really isn't an English translation for it...except to say that it is an unconditional love for us. He loves us completely and unconditionally.

We are His creation and we are fearfully and wonderfully made in His image (Psalm 139). What God hates is sin. We often say, "Hate the sin but love the sinner." Well, that's the way God is. God knows that we can never measure up to the level of perfection that Christ demonstrated. That's why He sent Jesus to us; to carry the weight of that sin. That doesn't mean there aren't consequences for sin. Think about it this way...your mom and dad love you unconditionally but they still discipline you when you do something wrong. It doesn't mean they don't love you; they are simply angry at the act of what you did. Your Heavenly Father is the same way.

Is no one really the same in this world?

That’s right! Unbelievable isn’t it? God our Creator created each and every human being EVER all differently! Wow! You’ve probably heard that our fingerprints are different, but did you know that our eyes are all different as well? New technology called retinal scanning, which is an amazing picture of the eye, has shown this. Have you read Psalm 139? It’s SO amazing! Look at these verses – they speak of God’s “knitting us” in our mother’s womb …
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.

When you want to ask God a question but then you don’t want to ask, what do you do?

I am going to ask you to read something, and then I am going to ask you two questions before I answer your question. Ok, here goes …

Please read Psalm 139; read the whole thing. Go ahead and do that right now, and then finish reading this note.


Pretty awesome Psalm, isn’t it? So now here are my two questions for you …

1. After reading that Psalm, do you think God knows you?

and 2. do you think that you can trust God?

Take a minute and really think about those two questions. When you are done answering those questions, then read my answer to your question.


Answer: God is really much bigger than we can imagine, or know. The deal is, he is not so big that he is like a far away God even though there are millions of other people in the world. Instead, he is so big that he can and does know you even though there are millions of other people in the world! That’s an amazing God! He knows everything about you. Sometimes you want to hide some stuff from him, but you just can’t. Now, if you’re not honoring God, then the idea of him knowing everything about you is kind of uncomfortable. However, if you need him – no matter what for – then its very cool to be able to lean on him and ask him anything and talk to him about anything.

Check this out – he will never love you any more and he will never love you any less than he does right now! God loves you completely and perfectly, and he will never abandon you, no matter what! You may ask God anything at any time, no matter what.

So what do you do? If you need to let him know something, just let him know. Ask for forgiveness if you need to (get honest with him, ok?), and then talk to him and ask him your question.

How can God be everywhere at once?

Great question,! Sometimes it’s so hard to understand God’s awesome abilities and powers. The problem is that us lowly, puny human beings try to create God in our image rather than the other way around!

But, let’s remember one thing…there is only one true God and we need to see Him as He is, which is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful) and omnipresent (being everywhere at the same time).

In answer to your question, God's omnipresence means that He is present everywhere all the time. Look at what the Bible says:

God said through Jeremiah, “Am I only a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth?” (Jeremiah 23:23,24)

In Psalm 139 David wrote, “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.” (Psalm 139:7-12)

In Matthew 28:20 Jesus told us, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Bottom line, there is no place where God is not. God is not only present in all places but God is fully present in every place. I have to admit, this kind of thinking is wayyyy beyond my brain capacity! But we must try to understand that God is able to be "present everywhere" because He is Spirit. He is not confined to a three dimensional existence. God is infinite which means He has no beginning or end. God is not limited by human categories, human experience, or human reason.

But, and here’s the best part: knowing that God is omnipresent not only means that you don't need to feel alone, it means you don’t need to be afraid. No matter what you are facing, you face it with God at your side.

Is God really next to you all the time?

Awesome question. Here we go … First of all, God is spirit only. (Read Nicodemus’ “Apple Box” questions in John 3 and Jesus’ response to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:24). There is nothing physical about spirit. You cannot touch, hear, smell, see, or taste spirit. Spirit has no shape, size, and weight, no color, flavor, odor, or texture. This makes God impossible to detect through our senses!

Let’s talk for a second about the space “next to you.” All space (the space right next to you, and all the space in the deepest reaches of the universe) was created by God, and God is not a part of anything that he created (read Genesis 2:1, John 1:3, Hebrews 11:3, and Revelation 4:11).

So now let’s imagine we are traveling through space in a space ship and we’re searching for God somewhere out there in space. Would we find him? The answer is no, right? Would we find him in deep space or in a galaxy far, far away? The answer is also no. Would we find him in space right next to us? The answer is still no. We won’t physically find God because God is not physically in his creation, nor can we physically sense him.

Some world religions believe that God is in everything. This is called “pantheism.” (The word pantheism comes from the original Greek root word “pan,” which means “all,” and “theism,” which means “of God.”) If God is in everything, then he would be in a soda can, and in an automobile engine, and in your hair – and this is not the case. If you comb your hair, you are not running a comb through God! That may seem obvious, but it is very important to understand that God is separate from his creation and he is not a part of that creation.

God is not physically out in deep space somewhere, and God is not physically right next to you. Since God is not physically in space at all, some people say, “Well, he’s in my heart.” Physically, though, he’s not in our hearts either, just like he’s not in your hair. Physically, you cannot put God in any one location. So when we say that we are only looking at the physical answer.

Now, here comes the “Yes, God is next to you” part of the answer. And this is the best part!!

First, knowing that God is entirely spirit (and not knowable by physical senses) will help us understand how God is next to us. Here is the truth about God: Spiritually, God is always at your side; God watches you constantly; God never misses a single thing; and God is always, always with you (read Leviticus 26:2; Deuteronomy 31:8; Job 9:10-11; Psalm 119:151; Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24; Psalm 145:18; Matthew 28:20b; 1 Peter 3:12). This is very, very awesome!

God did not just create you and then leave you alone, and God will not leave you when the going gets tough. God loved you completely and perfectly before you were born, he loved you when you took your first steps, he loved you when you when you first got mad, he loved you every day that you had “a bad hair day!” God was with you all those days, and all the days to come, no matter what! (read Psalm 23:4; Proverbs 3:23-26).

God is spirit and he is absolutely next to you all the time and available for you.