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Have you ever run into something that is both awesome and annoying at the same time? Omnipresence is one of those things. It’s a word that we humans try and use to describe an indescribable God. It is both awesome and annoying that we cannot fully describe God. It is awesome because God is way bigger and more complex than we could ever possibly comprehend or imagine, and therefore we know He is more powerful than us. But at the same time, it is annoying to those of us (like me) who want to understand how everything works! My analytical brain wrestles with the fact that I will never be able to understand God. Yet that is precisely why I am able to worship Him.

So, what is omnipresence specifically? The “in a nutshell” definition is “to be present everywhere at the same time.” Because God is not limited to a human body like we are, He is infinite and can be in all places at all times. He is a spirit being, not a human being. He is present not only everywhere on this earth, but also everywhere in the universe - all right now, at this very second!

This is a very difficult concept for us to understand. I am where I am, and I am nowhere else. Right now as I type this I am sitting at my computer. I am not in my kitchen, I am not at the park, I am not in a restaurant. I am only in one place. My finite human brain can only comprehend being in one place at a time. I joke that a couple times I have been in two places at once: twice I have pre-recorded episodes of Do Not Keep Silent with Jason, so I joke that while I was on the air on a Sunday evening, I was also at home at the same time!

Since we cannot comprehend being in multiple places at once, let alone everywhere in the cosmos, how do we know that God is omnipresent? To quote my favorite Sunday School teacher (who also happens to be my mom): Because the Bible tells me so! Psalm 139:7-10 (NIV) says:

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.

In case that’s not enough for you, check out Jeremiah 23:23-24 (NIV):

“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the LORD. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the LORD.

The Lord God Himself tells us that He is everywhere at all times. We can never flee from His presence; He fills up heaven and earth! This is both comforting and frightening to us as mere human beings. We are comforted by the fact that God is always with us, yet we are frightened that God sees every thing we do - whether we want Him to or not!

God’s omnipresence is something that we humans can never understand, but we do not need to; if we fully understood God, then we could not worship Him as God.