Tragedy: Men Do Not Know That God Is Here

By A. W. Tozer

And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said,
Surely the Lord is in this place: and I knew it not.
Genesis 2.8:16

    The patriarch Jacob saw a vision of God and cried out
in wonder, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it
not."

    Jacob had never been for one small division of a
moment outside the circle of that all-pervading
Presence.  But he knew it not. That was his trouble, and
it is ours.

    Men do not know that God is here.  What a difference
it would make if they knew!

    The Presence and the manifestation of the Presence
are not the same.  There can be the one without the
other.  God is here when we are wholly unaware of it.
He is manifest only when and as we are aware of His
Presence.  On our part there must be surrender to the
Spirit of God, for His work is to show us the Father and
the Son.

    If we cooperate with Him in loving obedience, God will
manifest Himself to us, and that manifestation will be
the difference between a nominal Christian life and a life
radiant with the light of His face.

    It  has  been  asked,  "Why  does  God  manifest  His
Presence to some and let multitudes of others struggle
along  in  the  half-light  of  imperfect  Christian
experience?"  We can only reply that the will of God is
the same for all---He has no favorites within His house-
hold.  All he has ever done for any of His children He
will do for all of His children.  The difference lies not
with God, but with us!
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Yours in Christ,
Paul N. F.