Pastor John Van Sloten

At times I feel as though my thinking has come full circle.  For decades I’ve believed in a God who is present to all of life.  Via the Holy Spirit God whispers, guides, and holds me.  There’s nothing new in that way of thinking.  Many believers would accede to (and trust) this truth.  So how is what I’ve been living recently different from this perspective?  How is ‘knowing God’s presence all the time’ different from ‘knowing God’s presence in all things”?  

I think it has to do with my understanding of where the Spirit is speaking from.   In an ‘all the time’ worldview God  intimately speaks via my conscience, a mental image, or a gut feel sense of things.   Somehow the Spirit moves my senses to know something about God.  This was always a personal, very close, kind of thing, and often had something to do with me – a question I was asking, a need I needed met, whatever.   An ‘in all things’ experience is different.  While it’s impact is still subjective and personal (how can it not be?) God’s voice seems as though it’s a bit further away, coming from over there.  And often what’s being communicated has nothing to do with me – at least not immediately.  God is simply revealing something about himself, for his sake first, and then – in my apprehension and response – for my sake.

I like the subtlety of this difference.  In the latter case it’s more about God than it is about me.  Hearing God in everything forces revelation to not to be about me!