Bad Church Sign: God Could Not Be Everywhere

everywhere

Here’s a church sign someone probably decided was a good idea for Mother’s Day:

“GOD COULD NOT BE EVERYWHERE SO HE CREATED MOTHERS”

Fail.

Epic fail.

In an attempt to make mothers feel special, this church actually has made them more anxious.  To live in a world where God was not everywhere means that the sustainment of life would be in our hands which would be a scary place to be.

Here’s why it is theologically inaccurate:

God is omnipresent.

That’s a fancy way of saying that God is everywhere at all times.

The Bible frequently teaches that God is everywhere present—omnipresent.  He is not limited by space or time. The psalmist wrote:

Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, 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 will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you (Psalm 139:7-12).

David revealed that no one can escape from God’s watch and presence. Nothing in the universe is able to hide someone from God.

Here are some other passages that each the same thing:

  • Though they dig into hell, from there my hand shall take them; though they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down; and though they hide themselves on top of Carmel, from there I will search and take them; though they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, from there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them (Amos 9:2,3).
  • ‘Am I a God near at hand,’ says the Lord, ‘and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?’ . . . ‘do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the Lord? (Jeremiah 23:23,24).
  • Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it” (Genesis 28:15,16).
  • Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, he is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other (Deuteronomy 4:39).
  • When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and on earth beneath (Joshua 2:11).
  • The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good (Proverbs 15:3).
  • Thus says the Lord, “Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where then is a house you could build for me? And where is a place that I may rest?” (Isaiah 66:1).
  • Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees;” for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing him?” (Genesis 16:13).
  • When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you (Isaiah 43:2).
  • For he himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

I am thankful for mothers and the eyes within the backs of their heads, but I am even more grateful for a God whose eyes never close and never miss a single thing.  He is omnipresent.