Question 83 – Why does God hide himself from unbelievers?
"I see no reason to impose myself on something that hides from me. So when God stops hiding like a snotty little child, then I might have a chat with him, about what and how. If that's not possible, he doesn't stand a chance that I will try to get to know him when he doesn't want to…" [13]
This was the reaction of a debater using the nickname. First and foremost, it must be stated that the accusation hidden behind this question is largely untrue. Millions of Christians who have experienced a personal relationship with God can testify to countless personal experiences of how He revealed Himself to them when they did not know Him. However, it is also true that God often remains distant and hidden. Why? Frankly, I do not know the exact answer. God Himself is an autonomous being and does not have to answer to anyone. He is the one who decides how He wishes to engage. He is not an impersonal force, nor a prayer vending machine into which we drop a wish only to receive a miracle. Despite all this, I want to highlight several principles that both the Bible and the practical experiences of Christians emphasize as important in understanding God's actions.
"And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us," (Acts 17:26–27)
God is a hidden God. This is His own decision. He wants to be sought, and He desires us to be active in the process of knowing Him. This activity has its rules. One of the most important is a sincere heart and a deep desire to know the truth. It is true that God makes Himself known even to those who are not seeking Him or, in some cases, are actively fighting against Him (possibly due to the intercessory prayers of Christians pleading on their behalf). However, this is not the norm, and usually, it is we who must respond to the quiet voice of God in our hearts through our own seeking.
I draw primarily on my own experience and the testimonies of many other Christians. I too could lament why God did not reveal Himself to me earlier. But the problem was that I was not truly seeking Him. In essence, He was indifferent to me. Only when I began to call out to Him (not just superficially or selfishly) with all my heart and all my being, pleading for Him to reveal the Truth to me, did He set things in motion. Jesus once promised,
"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." (Matthew 7:7–8)
Therefore, if you sincerely seek the truth, I believe you will find it.
It may take a day, a week, a year, or two... I do not know, but if you remain steadfast in your sincere attitude and long for forgiveness (and abandonment) of your faults and wrongdoings, God will certainly acknowledge it. The foundation for the plea that God loves to hear is a sincere heart, humility, an awareness of one's own mistakes (not their justification or vindication), a desire to change these mistakes, and belief that God exists and hears you. The participant who disdainfully accuses God of hiding does not fulfill these conditions. Moreover, she approaches Him with an arrogant attitude, as in: "How dare you hide from me?" If she does not change her mindset, she will one day weep bitterly over her defiance. When she finally understands before God's throne that God is not our enemy, but rather we ourselves have a major problem, it will be too late for her. However, God is merciful, and she, along with people with a similar mindset, still has hope.
Summation
God hides for many reasons. One of them is to preserve the principle of free will; in addition, He desires our genuine longing and a heart that hungers for Him alone. However, if you genuinely seek after God and pursue Him, He will make Himself known to you.