1 Samuel 10:21-22- And Saul the son of Kish was chosen. But when they sought him, he could not be found. Therefore they inquired of the Lord further, “Has the man come here yet?” And the Lord answered, “There he is, hidden among the equipment.”
I love the fact that God doesn’t have to look for me because He always knows where I am at! I was reminded of this truth in the Bible just this week.
Take Saul as an example! Saul was the son of a powerful man in the tribe of Benjamin, whose name was Kish. The Bible shares the fact that Saul was tall and handsome. He had everything going for him, and I am sure that he felt it was enough. Then one day, his father’s donkeys turned up missing. Why Kish asked Saul to go with a servant to look for the donkeys, he probably couldn’t say, but he did. And Saul went.
While Saul was out hunting for the donkeys, he met Samuel the prophet. Samuel proceeded to tell Saul that he was chosen by God to be king but to keep it to himself for the moment. On the day that it was time for the anointing, Saul was nowhere to be found. As a matter of fact, Samuel had to get divine help to find out where Saul had disappeared to:
But when they sought him, he could not be found. Therefore they inquired of the Lord further, “Has the man come here yet?” And the Lord answered, “There he is, hidden among the equipment.”
1 Samuel 10:22 NKJV
God told them exactly where to find Saul. He was hiding among the equipment. Here God is getting ready to have him anointed as the king of Israel, and he is in hiding. When God has an assignment on your life, you can run and even hide, but He knows where you are at. Even when you change your locale, He isn’t surprised by it, and it changes nothing!
Jonah would be able to tell you that! God had an assignment for Jonah! Jonah didn’t want to do the assignment. So he left his home and got on a boat headed in the opposite direction.
But Jonah arose 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 from the presence of the Lord.
Jonah 1:3 NKJV
Jonah was a prophet of God, and yet he hadn’t realized that he couldn’t flee the presence of God! Even David understood this truth!
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Psa;m 139 NKJV
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
Yet, Jonah ran, only to run smack dab into God! There is no getting away from Him! David said,
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.
Psalm 139:8-10 NKJV
If you have been trying to outrun God, stop wasting your time, because you cannot do it. Wherever you go, He is already there. That should bring comfort and not fear. That should make you shout and not fret, because He cares enough about you, about us, to always know where we are at!
Cornelius’ encounter with God also sheds light on the fact that God knows where we are at all times. Cornelius was a Gentile in the Italian army. Somehow he had become interested in the God of Israel and had begun to pray and to give as a way to acknowledge the faith he had embraced.
About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God
Acts 10:3-4 NKJV
God took notice of Cornelius’ alms and his prayers and sent an angel to him. God wanted to bless Cornelius but He wanted to use Peter to bless him. Peter wasn’t at home, and God knew that, but He also knew where Peter was lodging and what he was doing.
Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.”
Acts 10:5-6 NKJV
God knew exactly where Peter was at that precise moment, and he told Cornelius. In faith, Cornelius sends his servants to the address given to him, and Peter is there. I’ve heard people say that if you aren’t at church when God starts blessing, you will miss out on your blessing. Maybe! But since God knows where you live, He can come to where you live, work, or even vacation, and bless you! All addresses are known to Him and by Him!
Another person who can testify to this matter is also named Saul, but his name was changed to Paul. Saul was headed to Damascus to round up some more Christians to persecute when he ran into Jesus. After his encounter with Jesus, he was blinded for a time. Some men who were traveling with him took him to a place to stay. While he was there, God spoke to Ananias, His servant:
So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”
Acts 9:11-12 NKJV
Ananias wasn’t interested in meeting up with Saul, the persecutor. But God wanted to use Ananias to bless Saul. God gave Ananias the exact location of where Saul was at that time, and Ananias found him as the Lord said that he would!
We serve an amazing God. Whenever we try and place Him in a box with our theology or our experiences, we should know that it isn’t happening. It doesn’t matter where we go in this life, God will always be able to find us because He never loses sight of us. He knows where we are at all times and He knows how to get people to us to bless us! If we run from Him, that only shows our lack of faith that we can’t outrun God or hide from Him. But over and again He has shown us in His word that we are important enough to Him that we can’t hide from His presence!
And why would we even want to hide from His presence, when He loves us and wants what is best for us! Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 