We Cannot Lose God's Presence : We Can Lose God's Presence

The story of Jonah and the so-called whale is a Sunday School legend.  No I don't mean it's not true, I mean that almost every kid who ever went to church has heard the story.  It is a great story of sovereignty and mercy.   We of course remember that the account starts off with God calling his prophet, Jonah, to go and preach to that wicked city of Nineveh.  Then early in the story the stage is set for the real drama.  It's found in verse 3 of the first chapter:

“But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.” (Jonah 1:3, ESV) 

I suspect that I'm being a little particular, but did you notice the storyline that is established for us.  Jonah did not flee from Nineveh.  He did not flee from the calling, per se.  Jonah was fleeing from God -- from the "presence of God"  The same idea is conveyed in verse 10:

“Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.” (Jonah 1:10, ESV)

What astounded me in this story is that when Jonah got on the boat he found a nice place to have a nap.  He was asleep.  Untroubled, undisturbed and asleep!  Having left the "presence of God" he went to sleep.  I immediately thought of another Old Testament character: Samson.  In his rebellion we note that the inspired writer says in Judges 16:20 (ESV) 

²⁰ And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him."

 He too was asleep in the arms of "rebellion" yet was unaware that God had left him.  It is certainly true that God is everywhere.  Because God is present even “in the uttermost parts of the sea” (Ps. 139:9), escape is impossible from His "universal" presence.   For the Christian, God's presence is even more intimate than that for by His Spirit He is forever with us (e.g. John 14:17).  But there is a "manifest" presence of God.  It is a presence of empowerment.  It is a presence of blessing.  When Joseph was in Egypt we read that “His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.” (Genesis 39:3, ESV).   There is a favor and honor that the Lord gives and takes away, even from His servants.  Thus David could cry: “Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” (Psalm 51:11, ESV).

Sadly when we are living in sin and rebellion, even as God's children, we cannot lose God's omnipresence; nor will we lose His merciful presence; but we can lose His manifest presence.  We can lose His empowerment, favor and blessing.  Sadly, biblical evidence shows that it can happen so subtly that we are not aware of it.