Question 2 – Why doesn't God reveal Himself?
"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."
(Jer 29:13)
This is a very logical and interesting question which offers itself to anyone who has begun to seriously think about the existence of God. If God is interested in us ( as even the Bible states) and really exists, why does it often seem that He is hiding? Why does He not write in the clouds, 'I exist.' or 'Hello, I'm here. Believe in Me.'? It would be nice to have that, wouldn't it? It would be clear and definite. Christians and non-Christians would not have to continually argue about it. Many conflicts and religiously motivated wars would possibly decrease – except there is quite a big snag. Let us imagine that this situation has become a reality.
God's plan
Let us say you are an average citizen of the Czech Republic and your name is John. You are walking along the street and all of a sudden you see, 'John, I exist. Believe in me!' written in the sky. How would you react? When this incident passes away, I think most people would begin to explain it in a completely different way than how it originated (from an hallucination, secret weapon of the church to a theory of a visitation from space). This phenomenon would separate a person from God's plan and his nature/character. I will try to explain this with a real example to show why I think it would be so.
I assume that most of us love somebody and that we have an affinity towards them. I also assume that you desire to be loved. Maybe you are not even aware of it, but everyone desires to be accepted and loved just as he/she is and to live in satisfying relationships with others.
Now imagine the following situation. You are in love with X. You desire with all your heart that the person love you as well, would express true affection, favour, affinity for you and love you. What do you think? Would you gain all of this by going to the person and forcing or intimidating him/her? What, if along with this, you have power over this person? Maybe, for example, you have his/her career, livelihood or life in your hands. Would threatening, either directly or indirectly, help you? Would you be inwardly satisfied with a forced 'love' such as this?
No, you would not be. It would be a farce and a pretence, not what you desire deep down in your heart. That person must simply relinquish the pressure, thereby, paradoxically, closing the pathway to his/her sincere love. God is the One who has power over us and who will also judge us one day. Paradoxically, His direct revelation could be considered pressure in many cases.
That is to say that God desires a love-filled, mutual relationship with mankind/humanity whom He created. He loves us and desires that we would return his love, that we would put our whole life into His hands – every problem, every joy, every worry, all our hope as well as every one of our disappointments. He does not desire that we go to church every once in a while or reel off a memorized prayer before meals. He wants a relationship based on a freely made decision. He also desires our faith. This faith does not mean to believe in God (ie. believe that He exists) but above all to hope in GOD, to trust Him even when the circumstances suggest the opposite or when the situation does not agree with society's standards/outlook. Do you think that God would accomplish His desire if He made himself undeniably known? As we might say today, 'have himself advertised'.
I do not think so! As soon as you found out that this God who exists judges every wrong, you would quickly realise that you have a problem. Not wanting to end up very badly after (or even during) your life, you would have to revere, respect and obey Him. Would that really be love? Of course not! The possibility for us to freely choose to look for God and receive or reject Him would be forced on us rather than a choice. In reality we would simply be degraded to the level of robots. Thank God that He is not like this! He gives us freedom. The freedom to go our own way without Him or to live life in a relationship with Him. He does not force us and He respects our decision.
Free will
Free will is a key expression here. Although the meaning of the phrase 'love someone' is seriously deformed in today's culture, in reality it is the decision to love someone unconditionally and accept him/her just the way he/she is. Dear readers, this is how God loves and accepts you! If you were convinced by an unmistakable miracle of His existence, then you would miss out on the possibility of looking for Him and deciding for Him without any pressure/force. Love and trust can only be accepted and given freely! I believe that we have been given enough proof and many signs so that we do not have to believe blindly, yet, at the same time not so much proof and so many signs that our free will is restricted.
Do you want signs? Some have already received them…
Those who ask for indisputable signs and God's leading desire something that many have already received, and yet, this hasn't lead them to obedience and to love for God. The Bible contains many examples. The most visible are God's dealings with the people He chose in an earlier era – with the Israelites. He led them out of Egypt where they had been slaves, treated inhumanely and oppressed. Their children were also murdered. During their exodus from Egypt they saw many unprecedented miracles. After this, when God led them through the desert, His glory, power and holiness were manifested in many ways. Every one of them saw without a shadow of a doubt that, yes, God was with them and at work in their lives. What was the result? What do you think? Did they begin to obey and love God?
On the contrary, they were in fear and dread of Him! They were afraid and at the first opportunity they were faithless to Him, complained about Him and so on. When God gave them definite ordinances and a set of commandments for their lives, they could have said, 'Hurray! We don't have to worry about what God wants from us. We know His will.' This is often our desire. However, where did all this lead to? Unfortunately, not to love or to God. The Israelites failed over and over and turned from God. Let us try to see it from God's point of view. He wanted them to love Him; He gave them unmistakable signs so that they wouldn't have to doubt Him. He was also very close to his people. Despite the fact that He was close to them and had open communication with them, it led paradoxically to the opposite reaction.
By this, I am not saying that God cannot in certain situations reveal Himself in a miraculous way. He can, and quite often He does reveal Himself in miraculous ways in all parts of our planet. He often deals with those who sincerely look for Him or who are already in a relationship with Him.
Summation
The reality that God doesn't present himself in a visible way creates the condition for a relationship in which a person can freely decide how he will live his life without being forced by God to obey Him. However, God doesn't hide himself and gives every seeker enough proof to be able to know and understand that He exists.
"There is enough light for those who only desire to see, and enough obscurity for those who have a contrary disposition"
Blaise Pascal (mathematician, philosopher)