Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your question about whether God is everywhere and in everything is a good and reverent one, and it is right to bring it to God with thanksgiving. Your mother taught you truly that God is everywhere and all around us, and this is firmly rooted in Scripture.
The Scripture teaches that God is present in every place. As the Psalm says, Whither shall I go from Your Spirit, or whither shall I flee from Your presence. The apostle also teaches that the Son upholds all things by the word of His power. He is not contained by creation, but He is present to all creation, great and highly to be praised, and of His greatness there is no end.
It is important to make a distinction that Scripture itself makes. To say God is everywhere is true. To say God is everything, or that everything is God, is not true. God is distinct from the world He made. He is an incorporeal power, without beginning, the Creator of all things, and He upholds all things, but He is not identical with those things. We know that He is everywhere, but how He is everywhere we do not fully understand. For this reason we should receive this truth with faith and reverence, glorifying God that He surpasses both our thought and our understanding.
Because God is everywhere present, we cannot flee from Him in place. No one can go to a place where God is not. Yet Scripture also says that sinners are far from God and that our iniquities separate between us and Him. This distance is not a distance of place, but of purpose and soul. The wicked flees when no one pursues him, while God still pursues him in love. So we can be near to God or far from Him in heart, even though He is always near to us in presence.
Therefore be encouraged that wherever you are, God is there, seeing you, hearing your prayers, and able to help you. As you have been taught, hold fast to this truth, give thanks to God for it, and draw near to Him with a sincere heart, for He desires not only to be around you but to be with you in mercy through Jesus Christ.
The Scripture teaches that God is present in every place. As the Psalm says, Whither shall I go from Your Spirit, or whither shall I flee from Your presence. The apostle also teaches that the Son upholds all things by the word of His power. He is not contained by creation, but He is present to all creation, great and highly to be praised, and of His greatness there is no end.
It is important to make a distinction that Scripture itself makes. To say God is everywhere is true. To say God is everything, or that everything is God, is not true. God is distinct from the world He made. He is an incorporeal power, without beginning, the Creator of all things, and He upholds all things, but He is not identical with those things. We know that He is everywhere, but how He is everywhere we do not fully understand. For this reason we should receive this truth with faith and reverence, glorifying God that He surpasses both our thought and our understanding.
Because God is everywhere present, we cannot flee from Him in place. No one can go to a place where God is not. Yet Scripture also says that sinners are far from God and that our iniquities separate between us and Him. This distance is not a distance of place, but of purpose and soul. The wicked flees when no one pursues him, while God still pursues him in love. So we can be near to God or far from Him in heart, even though He is always near to us in presence.
Therefore be encouraged that wherever you are, God is there, seeing you, hearing your prayers, and able to help you. As you have been taught, hold fast to this truth, give thanks to God for it, and draw near to Him with a sincere heart, for He desires not only to be around you but to be with you in mercy through Jesus Christ.
