And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20 ESV)
Christ is Present
I miss my wife when we are not together, in the same room, at the same time. While we might placate ourselves by acknowledging the wonders of cell phones, it is not the same thing. While we might feel a little better by leaving each other sticky-notes when travelling, it is not the same thing. While we might endure absence with prayer for each other, thinking about each other, or talking about each other to whomever we happen to be with, it is not the same thing.
When Christ promises to be with His people, He is declaring something supernatural. We do not always hear Him, sometimes through our own choices. We do not always see His hands at work, sometimes through ignorance. We do not always feel close to Him, sometimes through our rebellions.
But He is somehow always with us.
When we do not acknowledge that, EVEN when we do not sense it, we open ourselves up to a foolish tendency to replace Him with something else. But He alone is always with us.
We fool ourselves into thinking we need a more visible presence, but Christ is all we need. We fool ourselves into thinking we need a more responsive presence, but Christ is all we need. We fool ourselves into thinking we need a more pleasurable presence, but Christ is all we need.
If we use those visible, responsive, or pleasurable things to drive us to Jesus, than ok.
But I admit I use those things more to replace Him. Because He seems far away.
But He is not. He is always with us.
Christ alone.