There was an article in a Christian magazine some time ago posing the question, "How Far Away Is God?"

        For a number of years, we have been witnesses to a big chunk of history being made.   We have seen the German nation develop a potent bomb that was the fore-runner of a power system that hurtled a reusable shuttle into space.   We have been astounded by the impious statement of the Russians that they saw no God in space.   We have propelled sophisticated instruments so far that our minds are boggled by the implications of such distances.

        Have we found God out there?   Was He hiding behind a twinkling star or a mysterious planet?   Was He securely living on the other side of the pearly gates, sitting on a Golden Throne looking down at us?

        Or, in a more contemporary vein, was He as near as the service station, or the courthouse, or the theatre or the lumberyard?

        The answer is yes to all of these.   It is not really a matter of how far away God is, but how NEAR !   If we are lucky enough to be in shouting distance of a mysterious planet or shooting star, we are in the presence of God.   If we operate the pump at the self-service station, or pay our taxes at the court house, or purchase a two-by-four at the lumber yard, or enjoy a "Mid-Summer Nights Dream" at the theater, we are in His presence.   God is there.   He is NEAR.

        Why?   Because He dwells in our hearts.   That is about as close as He can get.

        Once He lived with us in the Person of Jesus Christ.   After He died and was resurrected, He dwelt in us as the Holy Spirit.

        "No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God ABIDES in us and His love is perfected in us" (John 4:12)   The Russian astronauts had a big problem;   They didn't look in the right place !

        As the article mentioned, Immanuel is Jesus Christ and Immanuel means "God with us".

        How far away is God:   Not very !

-- Wayne Stell, Sr.