Accidentally or Consciously Entering God’s Presence?

 Date: 08/04/2026

I was given this simple picture that helped me understand how we often relate to God’s presence.

A spotlight shines steadily into a dark room. One person walks around completely oblivious to it. Occasionally, he steps into the beam by pure chance. For a brief moment he feels the warmth of the light and exclaims in surprise, “Wow, God’s presence is here!” Yet almost as quickly as he entered, he drifts out again without realising it. Once outside the beam, the warmth fades, the sense of God’s nearness disappears, and he continues walking in the darkness as if nothing had happened — moving in and out randomly, sometimes touching the light, sometimes not feeling it at all.

Another person sees the same steady spotlight. He learns to recognize the light and becomes aware of its presence. Instead of waiting for accidental moments, he consciously walks into the beam. There he chooses to stay, remaining in the light, allowing it to surround and fill him fully. He no longer drifts in and out. He has learned to abide there.

This simple picture captures much of what many of His people experience in their daily walk with God. For the case of the first person, we tend to step into God’s presence only by accident. We feel the warmth for a brief moment, and then drift out again without even realising it. Because of this obliviousness or our lack of understanding, we often struggle to make sense of the inconsistency.

Even though we may be taught that He is our Emmanuel and always with us, we sometimes accidentally overhype His sovereignty. When the sense of His nearness fades, we quickly perceive it as God choosing not to touch us at that moment. We claim that He reveals Himself at certain times and withholds Himself at others.

The truth is simple: God is not the one moving in and out. His presence is steady and constant, like the spotlight that never dims. It is we who move in and out of His presence. Yet He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us, for He is a faithful God. His faithfulness reaches to the clouds. His righteousness is like the great mountains. For He is the Lord, He does not change. (Hebrews 13:5, Psalm 36:5-6, Malachi 3:6)

So do we really want to continue living our lives drifting in and out of His nearness, or can we choose instead to remain in the steady light of His presence that is always there for us?

The way has already been opened wide. On the day Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. No longer do we need to stand outside. He has made Himself fully available to us. As we draw near to Him, He draws near to us. We can now come boldly and confidently into His presence, knowing that the light is always shining and the door is always open. (Hebrews 10:19-22, James 4:8)

 

In the Psalms it says the Lord is near to all who call on Him, that He is our refuge and strength, a very present help, and that He delights to be found by those who seek Him. His light does not flicker on and off according to some hidden choice. It shines steadily, waiting for us to enter and remain. (Psalm 145:18, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 9:10)

God really is always there for us, and He truly wants to touch us. In the Psalms it says the Lord is near to all who call upon Him, that He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, and that He delights to be found by those who seek Him with all their heart. His arms are not folded in distant sovereignty, waiting to decide whether or not to draw close. He is already reaching, already shining, already longing to wrap us in His presence. (Psalm 145:18 + Psalm 46:1 + Psalm 34:8)

The question is, are we willing to consciously step in and remain in the light that never dims?

 

As a science graduate, the analogy of a protein structure often comes to mind whenever I think about this. Forming a complex, functional protein by pure random chance is extremely difficult — the probability is so low that it is practically impossible without any help. But when a catalyst or enzyme is present, the whole process is wonderfully accelerated and made effective. In the same way, we do not have to leave our entering and remaining in God’s presence to mere spiritual probability or accidental moments. We need to catalyze this instead of leaving it to chance.

For a start, the first step is to become conscious and aware that we can keep entering and remain in His presence. Over time, as we spend more time with Him, we begin to recognise and identify His presence more clearly each time we enter. Gradually, this awareness grows until recognising His presence becomes second nature to us.

At the beginning, this process can feel difficult and even discouraging.

It is like tuning an old-school radio. When we first try, we often over-tune or under-tune the knob. Sometimes we catch a burst of clear sound for a moment — we immediately recognise that this is the right station. But almost immediately, we accidentally turn the knob a little too far, and the sound becomes unclear again, turning into static. Yet that brief clear moment stays in our memory. We now know what the right frequency sounds like, so we start aiming towards that clear sound, adjusting more carefully each time to move closer and closer until we finally succeed in tuning to the station.

In the same way, when we first enter God’s presence, we sometimes catch a brief moment of His nearness — we immediately recognise it. But then we easily lose it again. Yet that brief clear moment stays with us. We begin to aim towards that sense of His presence, learning to adjust more accurately each time we come to Him.

And the more we keep practising and keep spending time with Him, the better we get at fine-tuning. Eventually, entering and remaining in His presence becomes like second nature to us. Then that is when we will become like the sheep that recognise Jesus’ voice when He calls. Because we have become more familiar with His presence, we start to recognise Him quickly and instinctively, just like the sheep that know their shepherd’s voice. (John 10:27)

So, whether in our personal time or in a corporate setting, when we have first tasted and enjoyed His presence, let us not treat it as something that comes and goes randomly, as if “this time God moved, next time He didn’t.” Instead, we recognise it and identify it, so that we can lock onto it like the right radio station. We become conscious and aware of that clear sense of His nearness and keep aiming towards it. In this way, we learn not just to touch His presence occasionally, but to remain in it more consistently.

And the more we practise, the better we get. The better we get, the quicker we take to enter His presence. Over time, we become so conditioned that we can just simply enter and remain in His presence, as if it is our second nature.

Therefore, let us urge ourselves and one another to be more conscious when entering His presence. Let us not allow random moments to be the only way we touch Him, because that is not what God intends for us. Instead, we can now freely and confidently enter and remain in His presence — and enjoy our time with Him.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5 NKJV)