Does God
Really Hide from Us?
Faithful men
have had the words on their lips, even in the Bible. When Job is weighed down by his sufferings,
he asks God, “Why do you hide Your face, and regard me as Your enemy?” (Job
13:24). The Psalmist, who asked, “Why do
You hide in times of trouble?” (Psa. 10:1) and “How long, Lord? Will You hide
Yourself forever?” (Psa. 89:46)
There are
some reasons why God may hide himself but hopefully, though not fully satisfied
and understand, we can learn a little more about God, in the Word of God, the
Bible.
We cannot
find God by ourselves, or in ourselves, or by speculating and philosophizing,
because the concepts and reasoning processes we have are limited by our own
experiences in the natural material world we live in. Anyone can find God when God reveals himself.
It’s about
priorities. Everything we know is the
physical expression of an idea. God has discouraged man from focusing on the physical
at the expense of the way he thinks and behaves. But men prefer it another way. Man has always made it the practice to give
their deities some form. God does not
want to be revered for his physical form.
He wants us to love him for who he really is – mind, spirit, his
thinking, his behavior, and what he plans.
He doesn’t want us to be distracted by the physical. Everything physical is superficial.
Why does God
hide himself from us? Could it be that
to seek after Him is to find Him? The
effort and diligence of seeking God will produce a better understanding of who
God really is. God is only looking for a
relationship with someone who is prepared to believe and trust Him based on the
evidence that He has presented to us in so many different ways.
The apostle
Paul made the following observation: “God, who made the whole world and
everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in
temples made with hands. Nor is He
worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all
life, breath, and all things. And He has
made from one blood every nation of men who dwell on all the face of the earth,
and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope hat they might grope for Him and
find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move
and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, “For we are also
His offspring” (Act 17:24-28).
We can add:
“But without
faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that
He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Heb 11:6)
“Now faith
is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”.
(Heb 11:1)
The special
gift given to humans. Christ, the
firstborn over all creation, the image of the invisible God. (Col 1:15) God’s
intention when creating man and woman was to create them in His own image and
likeness, empowering them with the capacity to comprehend His ways and thoughts
and by such means, experience a relationship with God. But they chose to believe a serpent and lost
it all. Jesus restored us unto the favor
of God.
God is not
visible so that we might seek after Him.
He works silently, behind the scenes, bringing about circumstances in
our lives designed to teach and foster wisdom and humility, while building
character. He allows us to make our own
mistakes and experience the consequences of them – mistakes we might not make
if He was visibly present to instruct us.
He will send
regular everyday people as His messengers from time to time. He wants us to be alert and receptive to
instruction, to discern, and to grow. He
leaves us largely to ourselves, to make our own decisions, deal with our own
disputes, and suffer for our mistakes.
Through this natural process we demonstrate whether we love the
invisible God or not.
God speaks
to us in parables for the purpose of inducing meekness. God deliberately
teaches us in a confusing manner because He requires intense concentration and
effort from those who would know His will.
We must
soften our hearts and not become calloused.
Jesus taught in a manner designed to sift out the genuine people from
the rest. He only wanted those who
sought the reflection of God, as opposed to the reflection of themselves and
Satan, pursued by the majority. Those
who would follow Him would be like Elijah, who strained his ears intently, to
hear the still small voice over the wind, earthquake and fire.
God hides
himself, in a manner, for the express purpose that we might seek after
Him. The prerequisite to understanding
the truth about Him, really knowing Him, is meekness and humility.
As long as
we continue to listen to our own hearts at the expense of paying attention to
what God is saying, we will never truly “see” Him, “hear” Him, or “follow”
Him. God wants us to empty ourselves of
the world that He might fill us up.
