Present Presence
Habakkuk 2: 20
But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.
This verse brought up a couple of thoughts in me. First, the further we go in our study of the Bible the more we find the connections throughout it. The first sentence in this verse screams of the New Covenant and our place in it, or more specifically God’s place in it. The second sentence reminds me of Psalm 46: 10 which teaches us to “Be still, and know that I am God” (NKJ). Let’s look at today’s verse with the insight it shines on these two thoughts.
First, when Habakkuk wrote these words, the temple of God was a building. Habakkuk was remarking about the presence of the Lord. “The Lord is here, let us be silent and listen to Him,” he might say. How much more potent are these words now that we have become the temple of God. “Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3: 16 GW). In all of history, in all of time, God has never been more present in the lives of humans than He is right now. While this is true, it is hard for us to understand or have any tangible application of this truth. His presence seems remote to us and because we perceive Him as far off, perhaps just sitting on His throne in heaven, we find it difficult to be still and listen to Him. We have not developed our awareness of His presence. Therefore, we also lack the awareness that He is speaking to us. We don’t need a cloud of His presence going before us day and night because He is in us at all times. We just need to learn how to tap into that which is already true.
The interesting fact about developing the awareness of God with you at all times is to first accept the veracity of these verses that tell us that we are His temple and that He abides with us and in us. Once you do, you begin to look with more enlightened eyes. Just knowing He is there makes us more attentive. Think of it like this. If you have a house guest and you think you hear a voice, aren’t you more likely to perk up your ears because you think your guest may have just spoken to you? When we think of God as far off, then the voice that keeps speaking to us is easily ignored.
Likewise, if you accept that God is speaking to you or wants to, doesn’t the imperative to be still and silent so that you can hear become more sensible? If I told you that tomorrow at 2:00 PM God is going to speak to you, and you believe me, would that affect what you do at 2:00? Of course it would. If you believe that He is here with us and that He wants to speak specifically to you, I think you would attempt to accommodate hearing.
Well, I am telling you that if you want God to speak to you at 2:00 tomorrow, then He will. Would you rather have a 3:00 appointment? The calendar is open. You can have anytime you want. He will be there. Will you show up?
