He Hasn't Been There, He Is "There"

One of the Hebrew names used for God in the Old Testament is Ha-Makom it’s defined as “The Place.” This idea of God sometimes can seem to limit the omnipresence of God since our view of a place is one-sided; an example of this is that if God is this place he must not be somewhere.

However I see this as an affirmation of God’s presence in every ordeal. Jesus on numerous occasions told his disciples and the people around them if they wanted to know how God works, thinks and views things we just have to look at Jesus.

The name Ha-Makom (The Place) brings a revelation that in every moment God is a part of it, God is over shadowing, God is present. Though this can be reassuring it can also be scary, it can also bring a feeling of condemnation; a big brother is watching type of feeling. Comfort and a feeling of embracing is the result of God ever present personality.

Maybe this Ha-Makom is a way of God understanding us. A way of God stepping down to us and saying, “It’s okay.” Jesus had a famous encounter with a women caught in adultery, this women was hauled out of the act that she was committing. While sitting in the dirt, in her filth, in her mistakes and shortcomings Jesus didn’t call down from heaven, the bible says he, “stopped down.” How beautiful thing it is to have a God who will stoop down to a women who is sitting in the destruction of her own life. The Greek word used there when Jesus stooped down means to become level.

The pitfall of Modern mainline Christianity is that we have forgotten about this Jesus who doesn’t just reach for the sinners but he sits with them. He chooses to sit with them not in esteem but down to their lowly level, a level of mistakes, a level of humanity.

Seeing this we can get a visual example using the life of Jesus into the word and meaning of Ha-Makom. God becoming Ha-Makom to Abraham was a place of understanding and empowerment. God revealing himself to Moses as Ha-Makom is God’s unconditional love, yet support when we doubt, an when we fall short.

God referring to himself as Ha-Makom means that when I fall, he is there, when I doubt he is present, and when I can’t look at myself, when life gets too rough, I have the promise that God will not stand back he will get his hands dirty.

You’re at this road in your life? No God hasn’t been there, he is there.

If you need to talk about where you are in your life, if you feel like you need to reach out to someone. Email me at rickymaye@Lifespringstoday.org