by Sandy Kirby Quandt

During my time mentoring juveniles in a youth detention facility, one conversation I had with a mentee was whether or not God was in the detention center with her. She also wanted to know if Satan was there, too.

D and I had many, many conversations, but this is the one I remember most. It was the last time we saw each other. She was released that afternoon.

Each week we met, read scripture, prayed, and talked about her life.

When she asked whether God was with her, I assured her he was. I also told her Satan was lurking around as well.

God is omnipotent. All powerful. Omnipresent. Everywhere all the time. Omniscient. All knowing.

Satan is none of those things, although he tries to convince us he is.

When David wrote Psalm 139, he wondered if there was any place at all where he could go that God was not. He considered the heights of heaven, and the depths of sheol-the realm of the dead. He considered from dawn to night, east to west. It didn’t matter where he went, God is there. The darkness could not hide him, for night is as bright as day to God.

David declared God is intimately acquainted with all his ways. Just as God is intimately acquainted with all our ways. The Sovereign God knows when we sit and when we rise. When we please him and when we don’t. When we are behind guarded, locked doors, and when we are free.

There is nowhere we can go that God is not there. Nowhere.

We know Adam and Eve tried to hide from God. So did Jonah. Perhaps, we have tried to hide from God as well.

As I spoke with D, I prayed for God to give me wisdom to impart his words to her before she left. I told her God would always be with her. He would help her fight the temptation to get back into the lifestyle that sent her to the detention center. Satan wasn’t going to give up, but God is greater. He is stronger. He knows everything she’s going through, and loves her with an everlasting love.

It’s been years since D and I cried and hugged that last time. Imagine my surprise and joy to see her appear in a commercial for a non-profit, relating she was working on her career in the medical field at a local college. Yay, God!

God exists beyond the scope of time and space, yet he is mindful of each of us individually. He knit each of us together in our mother’s wombs, and there is nowhere we can hide from God.

Does that thought comfort or frighten you?

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If I ascend into Heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell [sheol, the realm of the dead], behold, You are there. Psalm 139:8 (AMP)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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