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GOD'S EVER-PRESENCE

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 6, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 45.

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GOD'S EVER-PRESENCE.

By Eliza A. Otis

Do we realize as we should the infinite nearness of God's presence? There are no more comforting words that come ringing down the ages than those tender words of our Saviour, "Lo, I am with 'you alway, even unto the end of the world.'" That does not mean a God afar off. It does not mean spiritual loneliness for the believer, but an ever-present Christ, the brooding tenderness and companionship of the great Overheart to fill our lives with gladness and with joy.
This is one of the great charms of a life that is hid in Christ; it has always the sense of a protecting Presence of infinite love and care, of moving on with Christ to that better life, where we shall see Him as He is, and rejoice forever in His visible presence.
But here, in this earth life, the earnest Christian has an abiding sense of the nearness of the Saviour. There are no solitary places where he has to walk alone; no Sloughs of Despond that faith can not bridge for him; no Hill Difficulty that he may not climb, and no Valley of the Shadow of Death that shall not be brightened by the angels of love and mercy.
Christianity is not a mere theory, but a living fact, a glorious reality to glorify life and to uplift humanity. It is that which keeps alive the divine spark in the soul and makes man great and enduring. It leads to the unfolding of man's better nature; it is the burial of self as the supreme object of affection. To do good for the love of Christ is not hard; for this love is all-compelling, and it takes the whole world into its embrace.
But how shall I become a Christian? you ask. My heart is hard and unfeeling, and I don't have the proper sorrow for sin, and I don't believe that I shall ever be any better than I am now.
Ah, my friend, it is just here where the trouble lies. It is the sin of unbelief that keeps you from Christ. You do not take Him at His word when He says, "Tho your sins be as scarlet, they shall be 'as white as snow,'" but you say, "I must try to make myself a 'little better before I go; I must get into a different frame of mind 'before I ask Him to receive me.'" And all the while He is saying, "Come."
“The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
That is all you have to do, a weary and heavy-laden sinner. Listen to the voice of our Redeemer and trust His willingness and power to save. Like the returning prodigal, let the language of your heart be, this very hour, “I will arise and go unto my Father.”
ELIZA A. OTIS.