Throughout the Bible, God has made it clear to His people that He is with them.
In Joshua 1:9 God says to Moses Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”(NKJV)
In Deuteronomy 31:6 He declares: Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”(NKJV)
Long before Jesus came to earth, Isaiah prophesies: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, NKJV) , which means God With Us
And in the New Testament Jesus Himself declares “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
These words served as promises to the people they were spoken to at the time. For us today, they also serve reminders that God is still with us even as He was with the people thousands of years ago.
It’s a comforting thought. But is that all this revelation should be?
What’s The Significance of God Being With Us?
What is the significance of God being with us? What does this really mean for us as believers? How does or should this truth impact and transform our lives?
I won’t speak for everyone but I can certainly share some of the ways I have found the knowledge that God is with me significant in hardship. For one, knowing that God is with me brings me peace of mind.
God’s Presence Brings Peace of Mind
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27(NKJV)
In uncomfortable, unexpected or painful situations knowing that God is with me has brought peace. The thing about trials and tribulation is that they steal not only your joy but your peace.
Your attention shifts until all you can focus on is the horrible and troubling circumstance you are in. This of course comes with its own psychological impacts, anxiety as you worry how you will get out of the situation, fear when you start to think you might not.
But the knowledge that God is with me has filled me with a peace that surpasses all understanding. Peace, as I trust and believe that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), and He will do the same for me.
I find peace knowing that as I walk through the valley, the Shepherd is keeping step with me and watching over me to keep me from harm. And whilst what I am going through may challenge me and bend me, because of His presence, it will not break me.
I can be confident that it will transform me instead and I can also be hopeful that it will end.
God’s Presence Brings Hope
…that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world
Ephesians 2:12 (ESV)
I’ve found life without God can be hopeless. Filled with moments where you question why you even exist and do what you do if in the end it will all be for nothing. But God’s presence gives me hope.
It gives me hope that there is more to all of this and that there is a beautiful eternity that awaits me. An eternity in which there will be an end to suffering, pain, prejudice and hardship. One that we can spend in the presence of our loving God.
But that’s not all. Knowing that God is with me gives me hope that I will see the other side of my hard circumstances. That they will not last forever because I will see His goodness in the land of the living. They will not last forever because the only thing that does is Him.
That is what God being with us means to me. His presence is comfort but it’s also so much more. It is peace of mind, it is hope, it also life, true life.
God’s Presence is Life
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly
John 10:10 (NKJV)
Knowing God is there changes everything for me. It means that there is purpose in my waking, purpose in my living.
I don’t just have to survive in life but I can thrive. I don’t have to struggle along, living life in fear, filled with anxiety or sorrow but I can enjoy everlasting joy because God is with us.
This is what God being with us means for me.
Let God Reveal What His Presence Means
Certainly, I have not expressed all the significance of God being with us.
But I pray that as you see what God’s presence does mean for me that God may reveal what His promised presence means for you.
For surely God is with us and He will never leave us and this is a life changing truth.
