At some point in life, this question becomes relevant. It is asked not only by atheists, but also by believers. Sometimes God’s children ask themselves: why sometimes I feel that my prayers beat against the cast-iron ceiling and I don’t feel God’s presence? Why wouldn’t He reveal Himself openly? During such a period, it is easy to confuse the leading of the Holy Spirit with your own thoughts. For skeptics, this is direct evidence that God does not exist. He does not reveal Himself. Even small children ask this question. Recently, my four-year-old daughter Eva asked me: “Dad, where is God? Why can’t I see Him?”
Basically, with regard to this question, the following arguments are raised:
- If God exists, He would reveal Himself to us.
Since God is omniscient (All-knowing) and has a completely different perspective, He must definitely have certain reasons why He cannot clearly show Himself to humanity. He does not act the way we expect or desire. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8). At first, this does not seem in favor of Christianity, since the Bible says that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:4). Scripture also says that Jesus is the only way to salvation: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) It turns out that those who do not come to Him and do not believe in Him are dealing with eternal consequences. It would seem that then it would be just logical to reveal Himself to the world openly. Why torment humanity in search of truth?
The answer is that we are endowed with free will. Free will is our ability to make choices and decisions without coercion and outside interference. Free will is needed to truly love God. Otherwise, our love would not be real. We would be like robots. If God revealed Himself openly, we would be deprived of the right to choose to love Him according to our free will. We would have no choice. And could we love Him with all our heart, soul and understanding then? As Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote in his wok A Raw Youth: “there is no winning love by force”. In this case, faith would no longer be faith, we would be forced to believe in Him. And in the current situation, He gives us the opportunity and freedom to sincerely seek Him or avoid Him. And the Word of God promises us: “… you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deut. 4:29). From here we move on to another argument.
- God has not revealed Himself to us in any way.
In other words, He did not make His existence obvious to us. However, it is still worth recognizing that God has revealed Himself enough to be found. We see Him:
– in the existence of the Universe;
– in the existence of objective moral values;
– indications of the existence of intelligent design in the field of biology;
– the exact harmony and relationship of physical laws between the Earth and the entire Universe;
– the truth and confirmation of the facts of the Holy Scriptures (historical, wisdom, etc.);
– the life, death and resurrection of Jesus (as a historical fact, confirmed by other sources besides the Bible);
– the testimony of the Holy Spirit in us.
And the latter plays a key role than listing all the previous points. Indeed, in order for Christ to reveal Himself in the life of a person who seeks Him (note: to seek, and with all that whole-heartedly), Christ Himself gives us the answer how He can be found and reveal Himself to us (i.e. become real for us personally, not according to our own imagination): ” Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21). Just think about these words, friends, because this is life, and life in abundance. It is eternal life.
However, for many people, there is never enough evidence. But with all this abundance of facts and evidence, they cannot have an excuse. After all, God’s thoughts and ways are not ours. He often says: “Look here!”, but we, like a small child, stamping our feet, demand from Him to appear the way we want. Here we are faced with a choice.
So, if God revealed Himself to the world more openly than He has already made it obvious, we would be deprived of the opportunity to seek Him in freedom, believe in Him and love Him. Instead, He gives us enough revelation in the Word of God, as well as by looking at the creation, in order to believe in Him. “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Rom. 1:20). Do you hear, friends? There is no excuse for such people. In other words, you do not need to have a scientific degree to see the amazing structure of your eyes, the cells of your body, and the whole world around you to understand that this thoughtful design must have a Designer.
At the same time, the Lord promises that if someone seeks Him with all their heart, they will definitely find Him. Christ Himself says: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Matt. 7:7-8). Helping to understand where to seek and how is the direct responsibility of not only preachers, but also parents. If you are already a child of God, do people see Christ in you? Is it easy for them to find Him by looking at the testimony of your life?
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
“Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:1, 6)
Max Volkov in Christ