Is God Hiding? Or Are You?

“If you seek me you will find me”, God promises through Jeremiah. “Seek and you will find”, said Jesus. And yet, it more often seems BarlowGirl got it right when they sang “I waited for you today but you didn’t show. I needed You today, so where did You go? You told me to call. Said You’d be there. And though I haven’t seen You, Are You still there? I cried out with no reply. I can’t feel You by my side, So I’ll hold tight to what I know. You’re here and I’m never alone.”

Easily the most important person in anyone’s life, the only one who can make a real difference, absent. So why am I alone? Broken promise to be there?

Reject him back? Keep looking? Give up? Deny his existence? Or lie to myself and pretend I see him when I really don’t? Yes, I know God was with me during my toughest moments. I could not experience him but he said he was there so he must have been. Footprints in the Sand. But what good did it do me?

Enough people meet him to hope he is out there somewhere. “Eye has not seen nor ears heard the things that God gives to those who believe him. He reveals them to us through this Spirit” (1Cor 2:9-16). I badly need those things just about now. I can deal with no money and no health and no friends. I cannot deal with no God. No hope.

So where are you God? Where are you hiding? Why can’t I see you? Why won’t you talk to me? It seems like there is chasm between us. Unbridgeable.

“But your sins have come between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, from hearing.” (Is 59:2) That verse of despair. How can I possibly overcome my sins? Is there no hope?

Stop. Read it again. God did not hide his face from you. Your pain makes you blind. His face is right there. You just can’t see him. And you will see him if you stop obsessing with your sins.

Jesus came to take away the sins of the world. That includes your sins, all of them, taken away. Dan 9:24 says that Jesus came to “finish transgression and make an end of sins”. If they were taken away, they are no longer here, are they? Your sins no longer exist. They can’t stop you from seeing and hearing God. You can see his face. Hear his voice.

It’s funny that in the New Testament church Christians were saints. If you lived back then, you would be a saint. And they had the spirit burning life into them in circumstances that can match or exceed almost anything you could be dealing with today. Oh, but they were different from us. They were super-humans. They had real faith. They were not.

Today we are told we are sinners. And we believe it. We call ourselves sinners. We take pride in admitting it. We are NOT proud. We recognize our filth. And we are surprised that we cannot see God’s face. Jesus takes away our sin. We bring it right back. No, Jesus, I will not let it go. I am truly very despicable. And nothing you did or do will change that. I am a dirty filthy sinner, if I say so myself. Now, speak to me God.

Well, so you have your own religion, your own faith, your own way to salvation. Not the teaching of Jesus. So good luck with it. If you ever want to meet the real Jesus, you have to do things his way. The way he taught. The New Testament way, which is where ALL his teachings are found. Only there and nowhere else. You have to accept that in God’s eyes you are a saint (holy), clean and perfect, without a blemish. That will take away your fear. Because, be honest, do you really want to see God face to face right now?

You have to believe that ONLY JESUS is the true picture of God. Only Jesus describes him. All before him are thieves and robbers. Forget whatever you think the Old Testament says God will do to punish you if you don’t obey his rules. Look at Jesus. And ONLY Jesus. Jesus said he would not break a bruised reed and would not extinguish a smoldering wick (Matt 12:20). Are you a bruised reed? Are you an almost dead smoldering wick? Have no fear. You are safe.

Sin is a broken heart. Your broken heart is the only thing that prevents you from seeing him and hearing him. Your pain that makes you afraid of punishment, of rejection. Because God speaks in your head, to you, all the time. I guarantee it. When you were a kid you could probably hear him. But then you got good at tuning him out.

Go back to the quiet place. Ask him questions. Any question. His answer will pop right in your head. It is not you answering yourself. It is him speaking to you. Ask him to show you his face. You will see it. Be patient. It took you years to tune him out. Give him a little time to reconnect.

Unless your pain stops you. You probably think God does not protect you, does not provide for you, does not call you his precious and very own. He abandoned you when you really needed him. When you life was in meltdown. Now that your life has lost meaning, you are alone.  You really can’t trust him. You really think those are all lies, and God is a liar.

Big problem. That is also enough to tune him out. If you want him you will have to renounce those lies. And reconsider those experiences that made you so cold towards him. Ask God to tell you the truth about himself. Just him to you, maker to creation. Daddy to kid. Give up your negative preconceptions and give him another chance.

Only you control your brain. Only you can open it to him. That is once place he cannot fix without an invitation. So he stands at your door and knocks. Waiting and hoping. What will you say?

No, Barlow Girl. You are wrong. He is right there, patiently waiting for you to give up on your own religion, on your pain, on your lies you believe about him. And just be still, and know he is your God.

Try it. You will be surprised. Pleasantly. I promise you.

I welcome questions. I am happy to help you get where I got. Email me at seapapa1@gmail.com