Am I with God?
“The House of David,” a television series about King David’s life, is playing on Amazon Prime. The Old Testament books of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Chronicles provide the Biblical basis for the production. And like most dramatizations, the producers take some artistic liberties that aren’t contained in the Scripture.
In one such scene, Samuel (the prophet who anointed both Saul and David at God’s command) speaks with a young and confused David. It goes something like this:
David: Is God with me? Is God still with Israel?
Samuel: The better question to ask, David, is not if God is with me,
but rather, am I with God?
Whoa. Wait a minute.
Am I with God?
I mean, I trust He’s with me, but am I with Him?
Why does this question stir me up? I had to sit and think.
First, Scripture teaches God is omnipresent. I know this. I trust this.
In Jeremiah 23: 23-24, I read:
“Am I a God at hand? declares the Lord, and not a God far away?
Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord.
Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.”
Then, in Psalms 139:7-12, David writes there is nowhere God is not.
To God, even the cloak of darkness is as light:
“Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,
even the darkness is not dark to you,
the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.”
How wonderful is that?
Even when I choose poorly, God is there.
In Matthew 28:20, before He is taken up into heaven Jesus ends the Great Commission with a promise:
“…And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
So, there is no doubt that God is with me, He sees me, and Jesus is with me always.
But, the question Samuel proposes brings up a different perspective.
Am I with God? God is with me, but is it possible to not be with God?
Is it possible to be near someone and not be with them?
Is it possible to even live with someone and not be with them?
I consider an estranged couple.
Love on the rocks. Most everyone I know has been there.
You meet, you date, you love, you hate. The relationship is over.
If it’s not mutual, it gets very awkward.
Maybe they work in the same place.
She treats him like a colleague but doesn’t share his table at lunch.
Maybe they belong to the same social circle.
He ignores her attempts at conversation but dotes on the cute waitress.
They are not “with” each other anymore. To be together, to be “with,” there must be a mutual awareness of the other’s desires then paying attention to the same.
I ask myself again, “Am I with God?”
Am I aware of Him? Am I giving Him my attention? Am I fixing my eyes on Him? Am I tuning in to hear His voice through the noise of this world?
When I check myself with the question, “Am I with God?” I honor Him with my heart’s attention. I show Him through obedience that I want His will, not mine. I am on His team. I am on His side. I am willing to do and be what He intends for me to be.
I choose to be “with” Him.
God is with me, yes.
By His grace, I am with God. May it ever be so.
