God is always there, not just when we ‘feel’ it.

“Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. (Psalm 73:23-24)”

“The reason I’m going to (very big Christian concert) is because God always shows up!” This is what someone said as part of a promotional package telling people why they should go to the concert. Leaving aside the reasons for why someone may think God would also attend this concert, we must be honest and admit that we all think like this sometimes. We sometimes experience a special moment when we think God is actually there, in a way He isn’t normally present.

When this moment happens we feel a whole range of heightened emotions such as joy, fear, profound warmth, assurance and more. There’s nothing wrong with experiencing these special moments and there is no reason to doubt that they are genuine if – and it is a big ‘if’ – we guard against deceiving ourselves. If we don’t guard ourselves we will be tricked by our feelings into thinking we are experiencing God when in fact all we are experiencing is our own emotions.

Feelings are not a guarantee of spiritual truth as any drug user who comes down will tell you. If we crave feelings more than God Himself we will be open to being deceived. If our feelings are aroused by something other than God in His word, things such as music or atmosphere, then we can’t trust our feelings to tells us whether we are experiencing God or not.

But far and away the greatest danger is the mistake in thinking God is more present in those special moments than at other times. In Psalm 73 Asaph looked back over times in his life when he thought God was far away. He looked at the health, wealth and prosperity of people who didn’t even care about God and He was angry at how unfair it was. He even says that he was like an animal with no feelings for God. His ‘quiet times’ of reading God’s word and praying, if he hadn’t give up completely, must have felt so dry and mundane.

Then he had one of those special moments. He goes into God’s presence and understands the phenomenal blessing of simply knowing God irrespective of the surrounding circumstances. He realises that comparison with others destroys spiritual enjoyment of God. And above all else he realises that he is always with God. Always.

Even looking back to his most barren moments, God was holding his right hand and God’s word was counselling him. Always. Past, present and future – when God Himself will receive him into glory. What an exhilarating moment for Asaph!