The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost fulfilled the promise Christ made to His disciples in John 14:18. Because the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one and inseparable (cf. John 14:23), the coming of the Holy Spirit is the return of Christ to His chosen ones. The same God who came in the flesh to redeem us is the same God who has returned in the Spirit to apply His finished work to us. As a result of this oneness and inseparableness that characterizes the Trinity, Romans 8:9 refers to the Holy Spirit as both “the Spirit of God” and “the Spirit of Christ.” In Galatians 4:6 Paul tells his readers, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” In Acts 16:7, Philippians 1:19, and 1 Peter 1:11, the Holy Spirit is respectively called “the Spirit of Jesus,” “the Spirit of Jesus Christ,” and “the Spirit of Christ.” 

     In this section, we will explore three key points: what has changed about God’s presence following the coming of the Holy Spirit(A), why the Holy Spirit had to come(B), and what the ongoing works of the Spirit are(C).

     A- What changed about God’s presence

      In the Incarnation, God was with His people in human flesh: they heard Him speak and saw Him with their eyes; they looked upon Him and touched Him with their hands (1 John 1:1); they ate and drank with Him (cf. Matthew 26:17, 20-21, 26-29; Mark 2:16; John 21:12-13). But when they learned of His impending return to glory, their hearts were troubled. Yet, it was to their advantage that the Son should return to the Father, so that the Spirit, the third Person of the Triune God, could come and apply to them the finished work of the Son (John 16:7). Therefore, in anticipation of His return to glory, the Lord Jesus Christ reassured His disciples, saying, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18). 

     Thus, the Son’s ascension to glory did not mean He was leaving His disciples as sheep without a shepherd, for He would return to them in a new and far more intimate way. For this time, He would not merely be with them but would take up permanent residence within them. This, He promised them in the days of His flesh, saying, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:15-17).

     B- Why the Holy Spirit had to come

     The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is the second pivotal event (not in order of importance, but chronologically speaking) through which God fulfills, on a larger scale and with far-reaching theological implications, what He long promised Ahaz. 

     The coming of the Holy Spirit is as substantial as the Incarnation, for both events concur equally to bring to its completion God’s intended plan for the redemption of His people. The indwelling Holy Spirit is the mark of Christ’s ownership and the seal of our hope—the guarantee of future glory (Colossians 1:27). We must never exalt the ministry of one Person of the Godhead over that of the Others. For not only are the three Persons of God coequal (therefore equally worthy of infinite honor), but also their ministries are equally important and indissociable, just as the three Persons of the holy Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) are Themselves inseparable. 

     Despite the distinctiveness of each Person’s role, there is an absolute inseparableness that characterizes the ministerial functions of the Members of the Triune God: in eternity past, the Father unconditionally elected unto salvation a people and gave them as an inheritance to the Son; some two thousand years ago, the Son clothed Himself in humanity (without divesting Himself of His Divinity) and entered our realm and purchased with His blood those whom the Father has given Him; after the Son’s ascension back to glory, the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost to apply to them the finished work of the Son, the redemption that He purchased with His blood (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; Titus 3:4-7). 

      Thus, the Father’s unconditional election, the Son’s redemption, and the Spirit’s application are equally substantial and indissociable divine activities that altogether achieve one unique goal: the salvation of God’s elect and their restoration into His holy presence. A soul chosen for salvation (by the Father) must be purchased (by the Son) and regenerated and sanctified (by the Holy Spirit) in order to enter and enjoy the glorious presence of God forever.

     The Spirit seals us to ensure our eternal adoption into the family of God and our partaking of the inheritance of the saints in glory. As Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, “In Him you also, when you heard the Word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14). 

     The Spirit circumcises our hearts, grants us saving faith, and leads us to repentance. Simultaneously with our regeneration (the circumcision of our hearts), He begins to sanctify us, putting to death the sins of our hearts (cf. Romans 8:13), so as to conform us to the image of Christ. In other words, besides our regeneration (a once-in-a-lifetime event), whereby the Spirit makes us partakers of the divine nature, His ministerial functions also include our sanctification—a lifelong process through which He purifies us and transforms us from one degree of holiness to the next. Hence, Paul notes in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

     Thus, throughout our earthly pilgrimage, the Spirit of the Lord our God is at work within us, empowering us to walk in holiness and endowing us with practical holiness. 

     C- What the ongoing works of the Spirit are

     The ongoing works of the Spirit in our lives as believers are substantial and include, among other things, His teaching ministry—as announced to the disciples by the Lord Jesus Christ: “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:25-26). The Spirit teaches us all things—that is, everything about God and the things of God—so that we may discern His will and grow in His knowledge and love, and thus be able to live in faithfulness and obedience to our God. And He convicts us of sin and leads us to daily repentance when we stumble.

     Moreover, the Spirit of the Lord shepherds His redeemed in the way of truth. In this regard, the Lord Jesus said to the disciples in John 16:13-15, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.”

     The Spirit also intercedes for us; He “helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). Moreover, the Spirit equips us for witnessing. Before His ascension back to glory, the Lord promised His disciples that at His coming the Spirit would empower them for evangelism—a promise quoted by Luke in Acts 1:8—“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (See also Acts 2:1-12.)

     The Spirit also gives us gifts for service. And so Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as He wills.” 

     It should be noted, however, that the working of miracles, the gifts of healing, prophecy, and tongues have ceased, as these were sign gifts that served to validate the authority of the Apostles and to authenticate the message they proclaimed, which is written for our instruction in the New Testament.

     The Spirit thus empowers us to do works “for the common good” and the glory of God. He works in us, “both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). For having been delivered from darkness, we have become “[God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). The presence of our God in our lives is thus evidenced by the fruit we bear as believers, as His Spirit works in us so that Christ may be formed in us, and through us so that God may be glorified in us.

     Moreover, the Spirit strengthens us in our weakness. Paul, in his exhortation of the church at Ephesus tells them not to lose heart over his suffering for the sake of Christ and the Gospel and assures them of his prayer to the Father for their strengthening. He writes in Ephesians 3:14-19, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

     The Spirit also gives us assurance of our filiation and eternal security and fills us “with confidence [to] draw near the Throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Paul notes in Romans 8:14-17, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by Whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.”

     The Spirit also acts as our Advocate before our accusers—a reality that the Lord Jesus Christ emphasized during His earthly ministry, when He was preparing the Twelve to go out and proclaim His Word. He warned them of the persecution they would face for His name’s sake, but also reassured them of divine advocacy, saying, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for My sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you”  (Matthew 10:16-20).

     For our sake, God the Son assumed humanity, that He might live for us and die as our substitute. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight” (Ephesians 1:7-8). In Him we have received the required positional holiness, whereby we stand before our God justified and are treated by Him as righteous, on the basis of Christ’s imputed righteousness, both active and passive. 

     However, to enter the holy presence of God, not only is it required that sinners be justified (made right with God), but we must also be purified from every defilement. Therefore, through our regeneration and our progressive sanctification—which starts the very moment we are regenerated—the Spirit puts to death the sins of our hearts (cf. Romans 8:13), making us more and more like Christ. Then, at the redemption of our bodies, the Spirit will deliver us from the very presence of sin, making us perfectly holy, fully conformed to the image of Christ, in order that we may dwell in the holy presence of our Father forever. 

     God the Spirit has thus come to confer upon us—the redeemed of Christ—our new identity through His work of regeneration and sanctification, and He will invest us with perfect holiness at the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Lord our King. Having once been with His sheep in the flesh, God now indwells His saints and shall remain with us always. This truth is substantiated by the promise that the Lord made to His disciples just before “He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). He said to them, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). 

     Following the Incarnation of the Son about two thousand years ago and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the next pivotal event (chronologically speaking) in God’s prophetic calendar, regarding His presence with His children, is the rapture of the church, which will be followed by the Son’s second coming.

The rapture marks the moment when the Church will be physically taken up to heaven by the Lord before the Tribulation that will come upon the whole earth, and so we will always be with Him. On the night of His betrayal, before He was arrested, the Lord Jesus spoke words of comfort to His disciples to prepare them to face the events that were to soon transpire—events that would cause them great distress and fill them with confusion and anxiousness. He said to them, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1-3).

     These words, “I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also,” refer to the rapture of the Church, when Christ the Lord will return just to gather His sheep into His heavenly abode. He will raise the dead saints and gather them in the clouds, along with the believers who are alive, and will take them all into His heavenly kingdom. Thus, the Lord “will keep [us] from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10). For He will take us (His Church) to His side before the Great Tribulation falls upon the whole world.

     The Apostle Paul elaborates on the resurrection of the saints and the subsequent rapture of the Church in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. He writes, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

     Paul also writes in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” 

     Currently, God’s promise to be with us (His Church) is fulfilled by His indwelling Holy Spirit—“Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:14). But the day is coming when the Lord will rapture us into heaven, and thus He will not only continue to indwell us by His Spirit, but will be visibly and physically present with us. As Paul emphasizes in Philippians 3:20-21, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself.”

     After the rapture, there will be held in heaven the marriage supper of the Lamb, where shall resound “the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints” (Revelation 19:6-8). The Bride will also receive her reward (1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Corinthians 5:9-10). Then later, Christ the King will return with His Bride to earth to establish His millennial kingdom.

    The Gospel according to Matthew states that the King’s return to earth will take place right after the Great Tribulation (from which He has spared His Church). Matthew 24:29-31 reads, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (See also Revelation 19:11-21; Revelation 20:6.)

     It is important to note that the elect referenced in the passage—those gathered by the angels at Christ’s return—are the Tribulation saints, i.e., those who will become believers after the rapture of the Church. Although they will endure the Tribulation, they will be gathered to Christ at His second coming and will dwell under the shelter of His wings in His kingdom. As Isaiah 4:5-6 states, “The LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.” 

     Thus the LORD’s protective presence shall shield His people upon His return. He will set His Throne in Jerusalem (cf. Ezekiel 48:35) and bring uninterrupted peace on earth (cf. Isaiah 9:7). “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4; see also Micah 4:3). 

     Christ’s earthly reign will mark the transition from the state of gloom that now characterizes the realm of mankind to the renewal of all things. This renewal will usher in the last pivotal event in God’s prophetic calendar with regard to His presence: His dwelling with His saints in a new heaven and a new earth.  

The LORD’s promise to be with His sheep was first fulfilled in the Incarnation of God the Son, followed by the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. Currently, we who are in Christ are waiting with eager expectation to be raptured by the Lord God our Savior into heaven, where we will receive our reward from His hand and celebrate the feast of our betrothal to Him. Subsequently, our King will return to earth with us to reign for a thousand years. 

     When the thousand years are over, the Lord will decisively defeat all His enemies and rid the earth of all evil. Fire will come down from His abode and consume the nations—Gog and Magog—that will have joined themselves to Satan following his release from prison (see Revelation 20:1-3, 7-9), to attack the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Then, Satan himself will be thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet will have been cast before him (Revelation 20:10). 

     Following the defeat of the evil one and his allies, the Lord will summon all the wicked for the Great White Throne Judgment. He will judge each person according to their deeds recorded in the books, before casting them into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).

     After the Final Judgment, the Lord will roll up the present heavens and earth like a garment (Isaiah 34:4;  Hebrews 1:10-12; Hebrews 12:26-27; 2 Peter 3:7-10; Matthew 24:35) and create a new heaven and a new earth. “The holy city, new Jerusalem, [will come] down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal” (Revelation 21:2,11). There, the LORD our God “will dwell with [us], and [we] will be His people, and God Himself will be with [us] as [our] God. He will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things [will] have passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).

      Thus shall our God establish His eternal dwelling with us, His saints, in a new world. “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the Throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and [we] His servants will worship Him. [We] will see His face, and His name will be on [our] foreheads. And night will be no more. [We] will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be [our] light, and [we] will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:3-5).

     As we wait with eager longing for the consummation of all things, when the LORD our God will establish His dwelling place with us in a whole new and perfect world, we should not fail to acknowledge and appreciate that even in this broken, pain-filled world where we now live He has always been with us, His people. We should value His presence above all else and greatly enjoy it regardless of the shifts of our circumstances. To that end, we must not allow any false notions to cloud our minds, lest our souls dwell in confusion. For the state of peacefulness (from which springs joy in the Lord even amidst strife and turmoil) cannot be attained until the mind is cleared of all misperception and saturated with the truth of God, and the heart is drawn to truly and fully dwell on the Lord our God.

     To dismiss the common errors of our day that obscure the purpose and reality of the LORD’s presence, we will now review several substantial scriptural truths. Afterward, we will conclude with some practical applications necessary to foster a deeper appreciation and perfect enjoyment of the presence of the LORD with us until He comes again. 

Before we examine these truths, we will first highlight some common misconceptions about the purpose and reality of the LORD’s presence held by many in our world today. 

     We live in a day where the purpose and reality of the LORD’s presence are often misconstrued, even by professing believers. Many hold the false notion that He entered our realm to afford a hardship-free life; that He came to make life easier, to ensure their ‘best life now’, and keep them out of suffering. Driven by this error, many turn to Christianity solely because they want to escape the trials of this life. In fact, they view God, not as the Sovereign of their bodies and souls, but as a means to satisfy their self-centered cravings and the evil passions of the flesh. All they yearn for is physical comfort and temporal security; they expect God to make their lives trouble-free (cf. Israel in the wilderness). Therefore, when their expectations fail to materialize, they grumble against God and walk away in disillusionment. 

     Besides this deceptive notion, there is also the false assumption that severe suffering is a sign of God’s abandonment or of a decline in His love. Consequently, when faced with intense hardships, many people respond with bitter complaints, because they think God has turned His back on them. Instead of drawing closer to God in utter dependence, constantly seeking His face for grace and pleading with Him for help (as all suffering should prompt us to do), they neglect prayer and Bible reading. And in doing so, they sever themselves from the vital sustenance, enlightenment, comfort, strength, and encouragement that only fellowship with God and His Word can supply. 

     Thus, due to the misconstruction of the role suffering plays in the lives of God’s people, many cause their souls to dwell in confusion, for they fail to understand that suffering is a gracious tool employed by God, not to consume His sheep, but to lovingly refine and shape them, in order to conform them to the image of His Son (cf. Romans 8:28-29), and that His nearness to His own is constant. Furthermore, suffering fosters reliance upon God, shatters sinful pride, and puts God’s glory on display as He grants us sufficient grace to endure the refining fire of afflictions rather than rescuing us from it (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). 

     Suffering is also the very place where encounter with the Living God is often materialized and His presence more tangible (cf. the three friends of Daniel in the midst of a fiery furnace, Daniel 3:24-25; see also Stephen before those who stoned him to death, Acts 7:54-59). To believe that God is not with us in our afflictions is therefore unsound, for Scripture tells us otherwise. For thus promises the LORD to His own in Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” He further assures us, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). The psalmist confesses in Psalm 34:18, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 46:1 adds, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” In Psalm 23:4, David testifies to the unfailing presence of the Lord with him even in the dark nights of his affliction, saying, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” 

     Not only is it unsound to hold that God is not present in our suffering—which casts a shadow on His character by disregarding His promises—but to respond to suffering with resentment is to reject God’s gracious shepherding and oversight over our souls; for He has designed our afflictions for the purpose of our sanctification and spiritual growth (cf. Psalm 119:71; see also James 1:2-4; Romans 5:3-5).

     The misunderstanding of the purpose of God’s presence is compounded by the pervasive lie of subjectivism, whereby the reality of God’s presence is reduced to mere religious experiences. Many in our day exalt their feelings over the truth by equating the intensity of their emotions with God’s presence with them. In other words, they think God is only “there” if they feel an emotional high. To their own peril, they reduce divine presence to their psychological whims, even claiming to hear from God that which is nothing more than the echo of their own deceptive thoughts. 

     There is a great danger in embracing the error that God’s presence is ascertained by fancies (wishful thinking) and apprehended by how we feel, for it substitutes the object of one’s trust, replacing God with personal feelings. Rather than resting upon God’s unchanging character, one relies on subjective emotions. Consequently, when the emotional highs subside, either doubt creeps in or there is an excessive hunger, not for God—the sure and steadfast anchor of the soul—but for a renewed experience, a longing to be inwardly enraptured, which reduces the individual to a slave of delusion.

      The purpose of God’s coming into the world and of His ongoing presence with us is not intended to end our suffering in the present life. Nor is enduring suffering a sign of God’s abandonment of His people or of a waning of His love. God does not exempt us from suffering in this world. On the contrary, He has ordained several specific kinds of afflictions that only those who belong to Him are privileged to experience in this life (cf. Philippians 1:29) for their ultimate good and His glory—and these we will discuss in the sections below. Yet our God promises to be with us in all our afflictions. 

     Furthermore, we do not need to have a special experience or feel anything unusual to have the conviction that our God is with us, for the certainty of His presence is rooted in His promise, in His unchanging character, in His trustworthiness. As it is written, “God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19). Therefore, we can have confidence that our God is with us, even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death or are faced with silence, simply because He says so, and His words are dependable. As already quoted, He promises His own in Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

     The LORD our God has promised to be with us always. His promise has not changed; He has not changed His mind. Our God is with us!

     As believers, we must have a sound understanding of what it means that God is with us; we must be discerning, lest we allow misconceptions to obscure what is true and biblical. Any such misconception hampers our appreciation and enjoyment of the presence of our God in this life. The biblical definition of “God with us” does not focus on an exemption from trials and hardships in the present age (cf. Matthew 16:24). Nor is the manifest presence of God to be determined by subjective emotionalism. The presence of God is an objective reality, a fulfillment of His promise to His sheep (Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 43:2; Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5), not a subjective feeling based on fantasies. 

     Moreover, God’s presence with His sheep is solely for the fulfillment of His sovereign will, to the praise of His glory. God did not enter the realm of man in history, nor will He establish His eternal dwelling with man at the end of the age to accomplish man’s will, satisfy his desires, or make him look great in his own eyes or feel good about himself. Rather, God sought us in our darkness to turn us from self-destructive rebelliousness to obedience to His perfect will. He came to pluck us out of obscurity, to weed out pride from our hearts, and remove the blinders from our eyes, that we may behold, savor, and honor His greatness and qualities of character as we ought (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:6), for the ultimate good of our souls. 

     While the LORD promises the absence of suffering to His redeemed in the life to come, when He establishes His eternal dwelling with us, He does not make such a promise for the present life. 

     Biblical truths on suffering are shining lights that dispel the common errors of our time, while also equipping the mind with a sound perspective on the purpose and reality of the LORD’s presence with His sheep, whereby the heart is fitly trained to appreciate and enjoy God’s presence rightly. 

     God clearly states in His Word that we have been called by Him to suffer for righteousness’ sake(A) in this life. Moreover, as sheep of His pasture, we can also undergo corrective suffering(B), preventive suffering(C), or suffering for divine purposes(D).

     A- A call to suffer for righteousness’ sake

    The LORD explicitly affirms in His Word that we will suffer persecution, rejection, insults, false accusations, martyrdom, and oppression in this world for His name’s sake and the Gospel, just as He Himself suffered for us. “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not” (Isaiah 53:3). Similarly, as His followers, we will suffer for righteousness’ sake in this world—“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21). 

     Suffering for righteousness is a divine calling and a necessary component of our new life in God’s Beloved Son. We no longer belong to the enemy’s realm but to Christ our God and Savior; we are no longer slaves to the kingdom of darkness, but slaves of Christ, the King of glory. Our brotherhood with the sons of disobedience and our friendship with the world have ceased; we have been made citizens of heaven. Because our heart’s proclivity has changed as a result of our calling (cf. 2 Pierre 1:3-4), the world now sees us as a threat, due to our stand for the Truth; the enemy of our Savior and King has now become our own due to our union with Him. Because we no longer adhere to the lies of the world, but serve the Truth, the world hates and persecutes us. As Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

     To drive home this inevitable reality, the Lord speaks to His disciples in John 15:19-20, saying, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours.” Then in John 16:33 He adds, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

     Suffering for righteousness’ sake is an inescapable reality for the Christian, due to the hostility (toward God) that characterizes the world and our union with the Lord our God. Hence, the Lord warns in Matthew 10:17-18, 21-22, 38: “Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for My sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.” He further declares in John 16:2, “They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.”

     As believers in Christ, we are not exempt from suffering; rather, we have been called to share in the sufferings of Christ our Lord and Savior. Scripture is replete with stories of saints who experienced extremely severe suffering caused by the wicked as a result of their faithfulness to God. For instance, Jeremiah was beaten and put in the stocks; he was also cast into the muddy cistern for proclaiming God’s words.  Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den because he refused to address his petitions to King Darius, but faithfully continued to seek the face of the LORD his God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were cast alive into a fiery furnace because they did not bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue. John the Baptist was put in prison and beheaded by Herod because he denounced Herod’s unlawful marriage with Herodias. Stephen was falsely accused and stoned to death by his opponents. The early church was fiercely persecuted by the enemies of Christ and His Gospel.

     Due to our union with Christ, the LORD our Righteousness, suffering for righteousness’ sake becomes an inevitable reality. It is therefore crucial to maintain a biblical perspective on suffering. Suffering as a believer is a privilege. Our suffering is never purposeless or fortuitous. It is not an impediment, but an instrument designed by our Heavenly Father to accomplish His purposes in and through us, for our supreme good and His glory; it is not a sign of God’s abandonment or of a decline in His love, but rather a sign of our salvation and a testimony to the grace and power of our God working to conform us to the image of His Son Jesus Christ. Therefore we should have a commendable heart attitude when we suffer as believers.

     A commendable behavior on our part in the midst of trials not only glorifies God but also strengthens our faith and helps in our sanctification. Therefore, when suffering for righteousness’ sake, we should respond in a manner worthy of the Lord, following the example He has given us. “When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). 

     Suffering for righteousness bears witness to our Heavenly Father’s diligent care for our souls—for He uses every suffering to refine (cf. Zechariah 13:9), strengthen, and make us grow spiritually. As Paul emphasizes in Romans 5:3-5, “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Suffering also testifies to our eternal security through the testing of our faith (cf. 1 Peter 1:6-7). Furthermore, suffering is a testimony to the nearness and steadfast love of our Heavenly Father who always upholds us in the course of every trial by His glorious Holy Spirit. He preserves us by the glory of His might and enables us to persevere, to stand firm (not shifting like sand)—which confirms our adoption and fills us with the assurance of our salvation. 

     We should therefore face suffering for righteousness’ sake with gladness of heart, not resentment. “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God” (1 Peter 2:19-20).

     In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul exhorts the readers to live in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ our Lord, “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents” (Philippians 1:27-28a). In other words, their daily conduct should match the Gospel they believe, teach, and preach. Moreover, they should be marked by steadfast unity of heart and mind—which is vital for victory over a common enemy—and fearlessness, not breaking under the weight of opposition. For while the opponents think the suffering endured by believers foreshadows their doom, the exact opposite is true, as Paul goes on to argue. To encourage the believers in Philippi to press on, Paul points up the significance of their suffering, first toward their opponents and then toward them. He notes, “This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:28b-29). 

     As Paul emphasizes in these two verses, enduring suffering for the sake of Christ and the Gospel in all perseverance is a token of our salvation (contra. Mark 4:16-17) and a sign that points to the bitter punishment and eternal destruction of the enemies of Christ. Moreover, suffering in Christ is a divine gift of grace. 

     Paul expounds these truths in his second letter to the church in Thessalonica, as he gives thanks to God and rejoices for their growth and perseverance in all their persecutions. He writes in 2 Thessalonians 1:4-10, “Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when He comes on that day to be glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.”

     Suffering for Christ’s sake is an unparalleled privilege, a gift that brings eternal reward: “we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:17). The Lord Himself counts those blessed who share in His sufferings, saying, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).

     Indeed, not only are we to suffer persecution, rejection, insults, false accusations, martyrdom, and oppression in this world for the sake of our Lord, but, as His sheep, we may also undergo corrective suffering.

     B- Corrective suffering

     Corrective suffering, also known as consequential suffering, is the result of personal sin and is brought upon us by our Heavenly Father for the purpose of our holiness. As Christ’s sheep, we are called to lead a holy life, to separate ourselves from sin. 1 Peter 1:14-16 commands us, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 

     While our sanctification is sovereignly wrought by the Spirit of our Heavenly Father, we have the responsibility to pursue holy living by dealing drastically with sin in our lives (cf. Matthew 5:29). Therefore, neglecting the pursuit of holiness and failing to deal with our sins calls for chastening by our Heavenly Father, whose will is our sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Which is to say, we should expect to suffer correction, to be disciplined by our Heavenly Father when we pamper sin instead of separate ourselves from it. And this corrective suffering must be welcomed with a humble, repentant, and thankful heart. For not all are disciplined by our Heavenly Father, but only His sons and daughters—those He receives in His love. 

     Therefore, we are reminded in Hebrews 12:5-8, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.”

     Divine discipline is a sign of our filiation, of our sonship, of the bond that unites us to our Heavenly Father, and a testimony of His steadfast love for us (cf. 2 Samuel 7:14-15). Therefore, we must not despise or treat it lightly; we must not grow weary when disciplined by our Heavenly Father. We should not complain but comply; we should not resent but repent. Moreover, it is for the purpose of our sanctification, and so we should clothe our hearts with gratitude and humility. For our Heavenly Father “disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:10-11).  

     Divine chastening or corrective suffering, is an act of love effected by our Heavenly Father, not only for the purpose of our sanctification, but also of our preservation. “We are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:32). Paul wrote these words to the Corinthian believers, some of whom were being disciplined by the Lord because of their sinful conduct when they gathered for the Lord’s Supper. In vv. 20-21, Paul reproves them, saying, “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk.” 

     The Corinthians had been observing the Lord’s Supper in a way that did not honor the Lord or benefit the whole body of believers in Corinth. As a result of their sinful conduct, many of them were struck with weakness, illness, and death by the Lord. Yet, Paul highlights that the punishment they suffered for their sin was to keep them from being condemned with the world (1 Corinthians 11:32). 

     Therefore, we should never perceive divine chastening as abandonment but a sign of our adoption into the family of God, a demonstration of our Father’s love for us—He does all that is necessary to preserve us; He graciously afflicts us to turn our hearts from evil and keep us from being consigned to eternal ruin. 

     Withholding discipline from a child is an imprudent (unwise) and dangerous parenting technique, for it fosters the ingraining of evil in the child’s heart rather than restraining it, consigning his soul to spiritual bondage and ruin. This kind of parenting showcases the indifference of a parent toward his child’s spiritual welfare and his lack of love for him. But because He loves us, our Heavenly Father disciplines us to weed out the unholy desires and intentions of our hearts (cf. John 15:2), so that having been made holy, we may dwell in His glorious presence forever.

     Psalm 94:12 speaks of the blessing of being disciplined by God, saying, “Blessed is the man whom You discipline, O LORD, and whom You teach out of Your law.” Job 5:17-18 reads, “Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. For He wounds, but He binds up; He shatters, but His hands heal.” 

     The Lord rebuked the church in Laodicea for their lukewarmness, saying, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:15-19). 

     In Psalm 119:67, 71, the psalmist acknowledges the benefit of God’s chastening by stressing that God used his affliction to produce in him obedience. He writes, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.”

     As children of the Most High, we walk the streets of this dying world alongside our Heavenly Father who never leaves us. His unwavering presence with us is proven by the very fact that when we stray from the path, He is right there to discipline us as needed; He is not like an absent parent: never there to see how his children are conducting themselves and to discipline them when necessary. Divine chastening is a testimony that our God is constantly with us to watch over our conduct; it is a demonstration of His fatherly love. So, when we experience suffering of any kind, we must never equate it with abandonment or a waning of His love for us. For His promise to be with us stands forever and His love for us is unchanging and eternal.

     In addition to the suffering caused by the enemies of the cross or by our own sin, we may also experience preventive suffering.

     C- Preventive suffering 

     Preventive suffering is designed by our Heavenly Father to deter us from sinning; it is a safeguard to prevent us from being ensnared by sin, lest we defile ourselves and fail to glorify the Lord our God in our bodies. Furthermore, preventive suffering fosters reliance on divine grace to endure every hardship and overcome every adversary. 

     The most notable example of preventive suffering in Scripture is that of the Apostle Paul. Paul was supernaturally caught up into paradise, the third heaven, “and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter” (2 Corinthians 12:4). Due to the extraordinary nature of these revelations, the Lord gave Paul “a thorn in the flesh” as a preventive measure, according to His wise counsel, to keep him from giving in to conceit. 

     Therefore, Paul himself explains in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9c, “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” 

     The Lord’s answer to Paul’s plea encouraged him to commit himself gladly to the Lord’s wise counsel, to humble himself under His mighty hand, for he understood the benefit and the purposefulness of his suffering. It was not in vain, but for his ultimate good and the glory of the Lord. It was designed to keep Paul from nurturing pride in his heart and to put on display the great power of the Lord in his weakness. Therefore, despite the painful nature of the thorn, Paul resolved, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9d-10).

     Thus, as God’s people, we are not only called to suffer for righteousness at the hands of the enemies of the Gospel. We must also endure disciplinary suffering for our personal transgressions and preventive suffering, which is designed by the Lord our God to deter us from indulging in sin. And besides these three forms of suffering, the Bible reveals another, which is caused neither by the enemies of the Gospel nor by personal iniquity, and much less intended to forestall sin; for it is designed for divine purposes. 

     D- Suffering for divine purposes

     This kind of suffering is designed by the LORD to fulfill His sovereign and good purposes and to put His glory on display. These purposes might be unknowable to the sufferer (as in Job’s case) or knowable (as in Joseph’s, cf. Genesis 50:20); yet, they all work for the believer’s good and the glory of our blessed God.

     According to His wise counsel and sovereign will, the Lord has providentially pre-ordained certain afflictions that are neither consequential, nor for the sake of righteousness, nor preventive, but are intended for His righteous purposes, our ultimate good, and the manifestation of His glory. 

     One of the scriptural examples of suffering for divine purposes is that of Job. According to His sovereign will and wise counsel, God assigned Job to terrible afflictions. Although the reason for Job’s suffering remained hidden from him, Scripture makes it clear that it was for the glory of the LORD, since it served to demonstrate the permanency of saving faith. The LORD allowed Satan to afflict Job to prove to Satan that the faithfulness of His sheep is neither rooted in nor contingent upon their prosperity or physical health (cf. Job 1:9-22; Job 2:3-10). Rather, its source and its object are God Himself. Furthermore, it is He who secures and perfects our faith; He upholds His sheep by His glorious Holy Spirit. In short, the Lord is “the Founder and Perfecter of our faith”  (Hebrews 12:2)—a truth He states in John 10:28-29, saying, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”  

     Joseph’s life offers another example of suffering for divine purposes. As a teenage boy, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers; yet it was according to God’s sovereign and eternal decree, for His good purpose (namely, the preservation of His people) and His glory. Unlike Job, Joseph eventually understood the purposes of God behind his suffering and later declared to his brothers,  “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20).

    Still another example of suffering for divine purposes is that of the man born blind in  John 9. His blindness was initially wrongly perceived by the disciples as consequential suffering. When they saw the man, they questioned the Lord Jesus, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” [The Lord] Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:2-3). Similarly, in John 11, we have the case of Lazarus, whose illness the Lord said was “for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:4).

     However, the most remarkable suffering for divine purposes recorded in Scripture—and in human history—is the death of the Son of God on the cross, which God decreed from before the foundation of the world for the salvation of elect sinners. Revelation 13:8 portrays the Son of God as “the Lamb who was slain.” “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:20-21). That “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world” signifies His divinely pre-ordained death on the cross—a death through which God would provide salvation by grace through faith, to the praise of His glory, for those He chose in His Son in eternity past as a love gift to Him.    

     God ordained Job’s suffering to demonstrate the enduring nature of saving faith, and Joseph’s to preserve His people; God decreed the sufferings of the man born blind and of Lazarus to display His wondrous works and glory, and the suffering of His Son to accomplish the redemption of His people.

   Christian suffering is an experience sovereignly and eternally decreed by our Heavenly Father, whereby His intimate presence and direct involvement in our lives are gloriously manifested and His purposes for our ultimate good are graciously accomplished for His glory. Therefore, we must not allow false notions to cloud our minds, lest our souls dwell in confusion in this trouble-filled world. However numerous and severe our sufferings may be, the presence of our Heavenly Father remains unfailing and should be valued above all else and greatly enjoyed regardless of our circumstances. 

     Having expounded the biblical view of the purpose and reality of the LORD’s presence by the analysis of several substantial truths, we must now consider how to practically live out these truths in our daily walk with our God, and thus be able to enjoy the grace of His presence in this broken and dying world.

  The presence of the LORD is an infinite blessing. David testifies to this reality in Psalm 16:11, saying, “You (LORD) make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 89:15 reads, “Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your face.” 

     It is an indescribable grace to be sheltered by the LORD God Most High. Not everyone is privileged to abide in the shadow of His majesty and glory. Therefore, as a people graciously sealed by the Spirit of the LORD and chosen by Him to dwell under His wings—where comprehensive healing, eternal life, permanent rest, indomitable strength, absolute protection, and fullness of joy are found—we must conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the One who mercifully shields us with His loving and life-giving presence.

     First of all, we should be grateful, abounding in thanksgiving, and always rejoicing in the fact that our God is pleased—according to the riches of His grace—to be with us. In fact, He is not only with us, but even within us, for we are His temple: His Spirit dwells within us (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:19). We must not prize anything over the presence of our God. We should not be like Israel in the wilderness: the LORD graciously chose to dwell in their midst—in spite of their sinfulness—yet Israel preferred the “comforts” of their bondage in the land of Egypt over the shielding, caring, nurturing, and blessed presence of the LORD. They rejected the presence of the LORD Who was among them and craved meat, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” (Numbers 11:20).  

     Blinded by their physical appetites, Israel forfeited spiritual security and all the blessings associated with being sheltered in the bosom of the LORD God Most High. We must treasure the presence of the LORD always, for nowhere else but under His wings alone can security, comfort, peace, joy, life, and “every good gift and every perfect gift” be found (James 1:17). There is no one, nothing, worthy like the Lord our God. He is the “Pearl of great value”, and he who rests in His bosom is limitlessly blessed. As the psalmist notes, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1); and, “Blessed are those who dwell in Your house, ever singing Your praise” (Psalm 84:4). Speaking of this blessing, the psalmist also writes in Psalm 36:7-9, “How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light.”

     Trading the presence of the LORD for anything else only brings destruction, as happened with the rabble that was among the people of Israel in the wilderness. They had a strong craving for meat. “And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at” (Numbers 11:4-6). As the people were weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent,  the anger of the LORD blazed hotly against them (Numbers 11:10).

     Then the next day, He caused the wind to spring up, “and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the ground. And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck down the people with a very great plague” (Numbers 11:31-33). Thus due to Israel’s failure to honor and value the LORD’s presence, He gave them meat in His anger (cf. Psalm 106:14-15).

     Sadly, Israel did not learn from this tragic event. Years later—when they set out from Mount Hor to go around the land of Edom—they became impatient on the way and spoke against the LORD and against Moses, saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died” (Numbers 21:4-6). Up to this point, they had spent about three decades in the wilderness, and the LORD had graciously shielded them from the deadly serpents that inhabited that region. As Moses noted, the LORD led Israel “through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, …[He] brought [them] water out of the flinty rock, …fed [them] in the wilderness with manna that [their] fathers did not know, that He might humble [them] and test [them], to do [them] good in the end” (Deuteronomy 8:15-16). 

     However, the people failed to appreciate God’s protective presence and providential care; their hearts were still in Egypt (the land of their bondage), which had caused them misery and groaning (cf. Exodus 2:23; Exodus 6:9). Yet they claimed the fish, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic they ate there cost them nothing (cf. Numbers 11:5). Despite the LORD’s constant provision for all their needs, they complained they had no food and no water; they loathed the food He graciously provided them and called it “worthless”—thereby provoking the LORD to anger.

     We must, therefore, greatly honor, appreciate, and enjoy the presence of our God above all else, even in our wilderness crossings, for His presence is sufficient for us. It is sufficient to help us traverse with confidence the turbulence that life’s unceasing shifts can bring across our path (cf. Psalm 91:4); it is sufficient to give us quietness of heart and steadfast joy in the face of every opposition. When we value the presence of God accordingly, we can rejoice in Him always, regardless of the circumstances of our lives, and say with Habakkuk: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17-18). 

         Patience and submissiveness toward our God are other characteristics that should mark our lives, especially when faced with great evils. We must patiently and with all submissiveness wait on the LORD, even when evil seems to prevail and the wicked to prosper in his way. In such circumstances, we must never doubt the steadfast presence of the Lord, but continually humble ourselves under His mighty hand and endure all things patiently and with great joy for the sake of His name and the good of our souls. 

     Furthermore, we must hold fast to the promises of our God—always looking upward, not inward—dwelling upon His unchanging character amidst life’s inevitably shifting circumstances; for the LORD our God is faithful. As the Sovereign of the universe, His promises stand and “He does all that He pleases” (Psalm 115:3). No one can frustrate His plans and nothing falls outside His sovereign decree and control, not even the evil of mankind. Because He promises to be with us always—and to the end of the age—we can have confidence that He is with us both in the dark nights of our affliction and in the bright days of our consolation. Our God is trustworthy. Therefore, we should take Him at His promise and follow Him wherever He takes us.

     Watchfulness must also define us. That is, we must watch our conduct and guard our hearts to ensure we do not entertain sin in our hearts, as this can cause the LORD to temporarily hide His face from us. Engaging in wilful disobedience or turning away from the Lord to follow our own appetites can provoke Him to turn His back on us (cf. Deuteronomy 31:16-18; Isaiah 54:7-8). A notable example of this occurred in the wilderness with the people of Israel, following the return of the spies from Canaan. The spies (except Caleb and Joshua) “brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out” (Numbers 13:32) and there arose from the heart of the people a contemptible outcry. They refused to obey the command of the LORD to enter and take possession of the land (cf. Numbers 14:4)—thereby provoking His holy anger and the hiding of His gracious face.

     Due to their willful disobedience, the LORD consigned them to death, saying, “Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know My displeasure.’ I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against Me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die”” (Numbers 14:29-35). 

     Upon hearing these words, the people of Israel presumptuously resolved to go up against the people of the land. “They rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the LORD has promised, for we have sinned” (Numbers 14:40). However, the LORD was not with them because of their rejection of Him. So Moses warned the people, saying, “Do not go up, for the LORD is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.” But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed out of the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah” (Numbers 14:42-45).

     Thus, due to Israel’s wilful disobedience, the LORD did not go up to fight for them and they were defeated by their enemies. Similarly, because of Achan’s sin during the destruction of Jericho, God did not go up before Israel to fight against Ai, and thirty-six of their men were killed by the men of Ai. On the day the LORD commissioned Joshua to lead the people of Israel, He promised him, saying, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). But when Israel broke the covenant of the LORD, His shielding presence was withdrawn from them. Thus, following the defeat of Israel by Ai, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, “Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you” (Joshua 7:11-12).

     The story of Samson offers another example of God’s temporary hiding of His countenance. Having set Samson apart as a Nazirite from the womb, the Lord raised him as a judge and endowed him with supernatural power to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines. However, Samson was unfaithful to God; he was marked by unbridled lust, pride, and violations of his Nazirite vow (cf. Judges 14:2, 8-9; Judges 15:15; Judges 16:1; Judges 16:19). Driven by licentiousness, Samson allowed himself to be ravished by a woman named Delilah. The lords of the Philistines then hired Delilah to uncover the secret of his great strength and how they could subdue him. Samson initially played a lying game in Delilah’s first three attempts to trap him. “So the secret of his strength was not known” (Judges 16:9). Yet Samson’s weakness for women kept him returning to the fowler’s trap; he did not abandon the woman, but remained with her and gave himself like prey into her cold-blooded arms. Finally, the woman pulled on his heartstrings; she kept nagging him until “his soul was vexed to death.” Then, he yielded under the vexation and “told her all his heart”  (Judges 16:16-17). 

     Upon hearing Samson’s revelation, Delilah immediately sent for the lords of the Philistines. Meanwhile, “She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him” (Judges 16:19). The Philistines then came and overpowered him, for as soon as his hair (the last sign of his Nazirite vow) was cut, the Spirit of the LORD departed from him. Therefore, his strength (that issued from the LORD’s presence with him) was gone and he was left helpless and vulnerable. Consequently, the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, bound him with shackles, and consigned him to forced labor in a prison in Gaza (Judges 16:21). 

     Thus Samson forfeited the power of the LORD’s presence by allowing his heart to be beguiled by the fleeting pleasures of licentiousness, under the deceptions of a woman. The LORD temporarily hid His face from Samson; He withdrew His strength and left Samson weak because of his persistent waywardness. Though at the end of his life the LORD restored him in the grace of His presence and answered his cry for help, Samson first endured temporary abandonment by God’s Spirit. This began when his hair—the last sign of his Nazirite vow—was cut in violation of his consecration to God, and lasted until his final plea with the LORD for renewed strength: he was humiliated and ill-treated by his enemies. God chastised him for his sin—a chastening that ultimately led to his prayer of repentance and the renewal of his trust in the LORD for strength in his final moments.

     We must not allow sin to rule in our hearts, lest the Lord our God hide His countenance from us—as Isaiah noted boldly concerning the people of Israel, who were marked by rebellion against God throughout their history. Due to their persistent waywardness, the LORD withdrew His shielding and caring presence from them. And so the prophet rebuked them, saying, “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or His ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2). Ezekiel 39:23–24 and Micah 3:4 also attest to this reality.

     The purpose of the Lord God hiding His face is to instill in us a holy fear of Him by confronting us with the futility, folly, and destructiveness of treasuring anything above Him—since the withdrawal of His countenance leaves us utterly helpless (cf. Deuteronomy 32:37-38; see also Joshua 7). Furthermore, it serves to awaken us from our spiritual stupor, that we may truly behold the LORD in His transcendent majesty and ascribe to Him the glory due His name (cf. Deuteronomy 32:39). Additionally, it is meant to weed out presumptuousness from our hearts and to stir us to walk uprightly.

     Our response should never be indifference or complaint when the Lord our God hides His face from us. Instead, we must separate ourselves from the sin that caused the breach and return to Him with a repentant heart for the restoration of fellowship. We must not act irreverently like the people of Israel (including the priests) who, in the days of Malachi, insolently questioned the LORD, saying, “Where is the God of justice?” (Malachi 2:17), even though they were unfaithful to His covenant. They lived in indifference toward God, yet considered themselves righteous and worthy of His shielding presence. They arrogantly and falsely accused God of being unconcerned with their state—rather than amending their own ways. From their perspective, the hope of restoration promised by God through His Messiah did not seem to be in sight, since the Persian empire continued to rule over them. They expected God to restore their prosperity, yet did not care about obeying His voice; they wanted the blessings of God while actively provoking Him to anger by their sins (cf. Malachi 2:10-14).

         Due to unrepented sin in our lives, the LORD may withhold His countenance from us for a moment. In such times, we feel the void left by the temporary withdrawal of His presence. Instead of fullness of joy, we are filled with gloom; we no longer experience the intimacy and blessing of His gracious presence, because we have allowed sin to nestle and take root in our hearts. 

        Another critical habit we should cultivate is a faithful life of prayer. Enjoying sweet fellowship with the Lord our God by constantly seeking His face in prayer tremendously impacts every aspect of our lives as believers. Prayer is a moment of intimacy where—resting upon the steadfast love of our Heavenly Father and being captivated by His beauty—we ascribe to Him glory, praise, and thanks, and with utter reliance, confidence, and trust in Him, humbly seek His face to find strength, comfort, courage, healing, help, grace, and mercy. 

     Prayer is extremely helpful not only to overcome the temptation to value anything over our God, but also to weed out the sins of our hearts that can cause Him to temporarily hide His countenance from us. Our reliance upon the glorious power of  the Holy Spirit—who alone can put to death the deeds of the flesh (cf. Romans 8:13) and fill our hearts with great delight in and longing for our God—is formulated in our prayers. Sins cannot be killed by willpower, nor can our hearts be saturated with love for God by human exertion; the purging of uncleanness from the heart and its filling with light are supernaturally wrought by the Holy Spirit. He roots out what is evil and plants what is good. 

     In the process of our sanctification, the Holy Spirit gradually purges our heart of what defiles it and fills it with what purifies it. He substitutes our hunger for the things of the flesh with hunger and thirst for God and His Word; He exposes the sinfulness and destructiveness of sin and draws us to desire life; He enables us to see how fleeting the pleasures of sin are and empowers us to pursue what is everlasting; He removes the clouds that blind our eyes, scatters our pride, and enables us to behold, honor, and savor the glory of our great God.

     Constancy in prayer draws us closer to our God—a closeness that fosters our enjoyment of His presence. Therefore, we must cultivate a life of prayer, so that we may not exalt anything above the intimate presence of our God. To that end, we must constantly rely on the Holy Spirit to help us restrain or triumph over every evil appetite and keep us in the joy of the Lord amidst life’s unsettling circumstances. 

     Moreover, we must be diligent students of the Word, constantly meditating upon the character of our God and His works. For the enjoyment of the Lord’s presence is inextricably tied to the knowledge of Him. We cannot enjoy our God as we ought if we do not truly know Him and consistently hold a correct view of who He is and what He does. Since we are prone to forget, it is therefore very crucial to renew our minds daily in the Word of our God—for a deep understanding and faithful application of all Scripture at all times is central to the Christian walk. Therefore, Paul urges the saints in Rome: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). 

     The presence of the LORD is to us, His children, an eternal gift. Therefore, we should face each day with a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving, with patience and submissiveness—enduring all things with great joy to the glory of our God by resting upon His unchanging character and promises. Furthermore, we should be watchful, constantly seeking the face of our God in prayer and renewing our minds in His Word, so that we may experience the fullness of joy that His gracious presence affords, even in this broken world and our fallen state, as we eagerly wait for His return in glory and our rapture into His glorious eternal kingdom. Our God is with us!