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Was ist das? What is that you may ask? Ubiquitous is a long word of four syllables with ten letters, of which, rather unusually, six are vowels, leaving only four consonants remaining to complete it. Ubiquitous means present, appearing, or found everywhere, widespread, constantly encountered like the air we breathe. Being everywhere at once is omnipresent — God is definitely omnipresent and therefore ubiquitous whether He is constantly encountered or not. King David in Psalm 139 speaks of finding and knowing God's presence wherever he goes understanding that God knows all, sees all, and is all in a perfectly complete package as it were, lacking nothing. There are many words to describe God and the best one of all is love because it encapsulates so much. The scripture in 1 John 4:7-21 is deeply meaningful when attempting to understand the ubiquitous love of God.
When we think of God do we ever associate Him with the word ubiquitous? Not me, until just recently. Funny, strange, and interesting the use of words here and there during the course of our lives how they change in spelling and even in meaning like the word gay, which was about being happy but sadly has more than one definition these days. Now and again, different or less commonly used words and phrases pop out at me — my ears hear these almost like sensing a foreign object and want to know immediately about their aetiology to sort through where they come from along with their sense to use correctly for English syntax. One such term came through a sermon last week which was completely new to me — word salad. Now knowing what it means I like it and will decidedly use it in conversation and see if people make any comment or even notice it. Here is the link to click on if you are curious about language such as word salad: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/word-salad#:~:text=Word%20salad%20is%20defined%20as,make%20a%20lot%20of%20sense. How I will casually throw word salad into the mix I don't really know yet but it will be interesting to find out for this wordsmith as language is quite fascinating to those of similar ilk. God is the originator of all language and so I see Him as the greatest Wordsmith of all time. Imagine being able to speak in any and all languages — definitely an impossibility for us, but not for God.
For years I have watched the English language morph with all sorts of changes such as a single "l" placed where a double (ll) used to be, therefore faithfull is now meant to be faithful, and so worshipping is worshiping, marvelous is no longer marvellous, while parallel is still parallel but for how much longer one may wonder. More recently, the hyphens have been removed so co-operation is now cooperation. This is silly to me as coop is a chicken coop in my mind — presumably they all co-operate while taking shelter for the night however there is that pecking order. An attempt at humour. Yes, the human mind decides what they think is right but it looks like a kindergarten toy at best in comparison to the mind of our great God who made the universe and everything in it. The billions of stars in the galaxies, He knows each one by name (Genesis 1:16, Psalm 147:4, and Isaiah 40:26). Humans have trouble even reciting or remembering more than a paragraph, with the best of us able to memorise a Psalm or part of the Bible. We forget names of people we know but recognise faces, this is especially apparent as we become older. We are so limited and incomplete in this physical life yet we are designed to have a spiritual component — a most meaningful relationship with our God who created us. Once this began in my life everything then made sense, even great quandaries like pain and suffering. Until you do too there will always be this missing element which people naturally tend to try and fill with all sorts of endeavours like shopping, causes such as fundraising or volunteering, creative pursuits, quests such as travelling around the world, saving endangered animals and/or species whether flora or fauna, and the list could go on and on with things people are passionate about. My experience always left me feeling empty after the initial high/buzz/temporary pleasure when attempting to fill this missing link for it was fleeting, not fully satisfying or sustainable.
The vast majority of people in the world do not know God, some think they know who He is but they really do not know Him like King David, Abraham, Sarah, Hannah, Huldah, Tabitha, Esther, Jeremiah, Noah, Jonah, Isaiah, Ezekial, Rahab, Deborah, and more of God's faithful people we can read about in Hebrews 11. God is an enigma to some, ignored, denied, hated, blasphemed by others, and put in the "too hard basket" for later on but later on never comes as people are distracted with many things in their life. This is no coincidence at all as the devil likes it exactly this way — anything to keep you away from God and a beautiful relationship between the two of you. You have to fight not only this enemy but your own weaknesses in order to make an effort especially when you are busy. Most people had a Bible in their house last century but nowadays it is becoming a rarity, a scarcity that is deliberately overlooked. Don't let this be you as you need to care by seeking out what God says in the Bible, and you need to know how you can completely overturn your life. God does not need us but wants us — He is presently in the process of building His God family. You need God whether you agree or not. One day all will come to know God in all His glory and for the vast majority it will be after their physical lives have ceased and after their resurrection (1 Corinthians 15).
God is there for us and for you if you make time for Him. Why not start today to learn about Who created you, your purpose in life, and the wonderful plan God has for you. For only the fool says in his heart there is no God (Psalm 14:1). Taking God for granted or denying Him as many do will reap consequences. Romans 1:18-23 sets us straight with "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things".
In conclusion then, God is ubiquitous and omnipresent, all around us to be acknowledged, to be given glory as we wake up to the fact that creation did not just happen to be there for some silly random reason that people have declared in the past when all these things were a mystery to the minds of men, limited in learning and understanding. Of course the devil placed a stumbling block in the way to separate human beings from their Creator as far back as in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve through sin. We need to think and ponder deeply by opening our eyes to see His stunningly marvellous creation as if we are seeing it for the first time. Do not take it for granted any longer. Get outside and look at nature, animals, the heavens at night with their twinkling adornment like a richly dark midnight blue velvety blanket encrusted and studded in brilliant jewels. Give credit where credit is due and start living your life for God by getting to know Him. If you draw close to God, He will draw near to you as it is written in James 4:8. Meanwhile this sermon may help with opening your mind to things that should be considered.
https://www.ucg.org/sermons/who-are-you-4