This is part 2 of a 6-part series. View the entire series here.
I can never escape from Your Spirit! I can never get away from Your presence! If I go up to heaven, You are there; if I go down to the grave, You are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there Your hand will guide me, and Your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—but even in darkness I cannot hide from You. To You the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to You. – Psalm 139:7-12 NLT
As a kid, I was enchanted by my shadow. I used to spend tons of time outside, standing on the sidewalk, moving all around to see if my shadow would really follow me everywhere. I was fascinated by the way it seemed to shapeshift—sometimes long and tall, sometimes the same size as me—depending on where the sun was in the sky.
It’s a silly comparison, but to this day, when I read these verses, when I read, “I can never escape from Your Spirit! I can never get away from Your presence,” I can’t help but think of my shadow, and the little girl who found comfort in its presence because it made her feel like she wasn’t alone.
But God’s presence isn’t like our shadow, which only shows itself when we’re standing in the sun. God’s presence goes before us, beside us, behind us. It follows us down to our lowest point, and soars the heavens with us at our highest.
There’s a beautiful line in the book of Matthew that comes at the very moment of Jesus’ crucifixion. It’s easy to miss, or misunderstand, if you don’t know the greater context. It says, “Then Jesus shouted out again, and He released His spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:50-51a NLT).
So what’s the big deal about a curtain being torn? And why does it matter that it was torn from top to bottom?
The curtain being referred to in this verse is the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Holy of Holies was the most sacred place in the Temple. It was where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and where God’s presence resided among Israel. One day a year, the High Priest would go behind the curtain into the Holy of Holies to atone for the sins of the Israelite people.
In essence, the curtain was what separated the Israelites from God’s presence. They couldn’t personally be where His glory manifested. So when, at Jesus’s death, the curtain tore from top to bottom, it symbolized the removal of any separation between us and God. Jesus’s sacrifice tore the curtain, making it possible for us to have access—personal, intimate, continual access—to God.
Yet how often do we try to put the curtain back up, to re-distance ourselves from God? How often, like David, do we ask the darkness to hide us? We know how futile it is; God finds no distinction between the deepest dark of night and the brightest light of day. But like Adam and Eve in the garden, we’re aware of our unworthiness, we’re ashamed of what we’ve done, and so we convince ourselves that the best (or only) thing to do is hide. But the joke’s on us, because wherever we go, God goes too.
Instead of running, let your awareness of how short you fall, of how much you need Him, draw you nearer to God, not further away. Remember that there’s no curtain separating you from His presence. He’s with you every moment, closer than your breath. We can’t hide from Him, and we don’t ever need to.
Let it be a soft place for your heart to land every time you recall David’s words: “Even there Your hand will guide me, and Your strength will support me.”
Even there? You may be tempted to ask.
Yes, even there.
