The Presence of God (cont)

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There are many, including Christians, who think of Creation as an act of God that only took place in the past. God created the world out of nothing but it is like a machine that operates by itself without any further input from God. But that is not how the Bible describes things.
Although God created everything out of nothing, implying there was a definite beginning point, it does not follow that God’s creative acts had ceased. The Bible is full of references to God’s continuing creative activity. Creation itself is sustained by God’s continuing action and it is only his action that keeps it from lapsing back into nothingness, or chaos as Genesis describes it. In fact, creation language in the Bible more often refers to God’s ongoing creative work than it does for his original creative work.
This has profound implications for the way we live. If Creation is an ongoing process in which God is continually active, then God is present everywhere and in everything, affecting every moment. This is why Brother Lawrence can encourage us to practice experiencing God’s presence in the most menial and mundane moments of our lives.
Perhaps you can also open your heart and eyes in every moment, pray short conversational prayers, become attuned to God’s creative sustaining activity, and be reawakened to the wonder of this miracle of life. As Tozer suggests, God is waiting for us to do just that.
Stephen L Baxter
The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence is available online. Maybe now is as good a time as any to read it?
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