Why is God Hidden?

[Bobby_Ray]

What is the purpose of God hiding himself from us? God want’s all his children to have faith right? The easiest way would be to reveal himself in our world. Why doesn’t he do that?

Thanks for any answers!

 

[Asiyreh]

That’s a big question. As your mind is filled with the knowledge of God, it’s probably the last question you’ll ever have to answer, before you shuffle off this mortal coil and the truth is unveiled.

But put yourself in God’s shoes for a second. Now this is all going to be slightly blasphemous for the remainder but the Lord has permitted us to reason, Come let us reason together. Thought experiment.

Let’s imagine He was right there beside you. Now would you do his Commands?
But who are you really?
Who are you when nobody else is around? When you think no one is looking?
Now don’t be curling up into a ball, we all suffer with personal sin. Thought experiment…

Ok so bang; the angels one day they are created and here’s this God saying hi I’m your creator this is my creation and you have to do as I say…
Why? And that’s what caused the problem. Giving free will creatures and an infinite amount of time, someone would eventually say no. I want to do it this way instead.

The answer of course is because it’s made of him.
Some philosophers and theologians say that God has one weakness, his own nature.
This reality, this matrix if you like, resounds to his nature. Call it karma, you reap what you so. Many cultures many names. All the sparkly sins, all the choices for righteousness are merely typologies of greater spiritual realities.

God can’t tell us why we should follow his Way. It’s better he show us. And that’s life.
It’s his creation, it reflects his nature. That’s why his way can only be right. It’s not fair, it just is, He can’t be something He’s not.

It’s a choice to choose this Way, but it must be your will, your choice, or it’s not love. We are the family of God, or not, your choice but it must be yours, and that’s why he’s not here. Although he is…

 

[Thorns]

My guess would be that after the Fall, Adam and Eve changed our relationship with God. They used to communicate and interact with God when they were in a state of grace, but after that God hid Himself from the world because we broke our world and corrupted it.

 

[Avila123]

This is just a personal view of someone who is not a scholar. Adam and Eve were driven from God’s presence through original sin but notwithstanding this separation, God stayed close to His people and was very active. What happened? They knew He was God, they heard and experienced His promises but most of them turned away and rejected Him at one point or another before being reconciled. God stayed with the Israelites during their desert wanderings, every man, woman and child knew God was in the tent with Moses but they still rejected Him. Moses had to veil his face because the glory of God shone so brightly, the sinful Israelites could not look at him. Did they obey Moses? No, the challenged his leadership and disobeyed. And as for Moses, he tried but even he fell short and did not get to step foot in the promised land. All those people, so intimate with God in ways beyond over imagining, yet still they stumbled and sinned, just as we do today.

God could come down in a vision complete with trumpets, angels preforming miracles left right and center, and what realistically is likely to happen. News headlines “Freak storms cause wind tunnels giving the illusion of hearing trumpets” or “Pollution causes mass hysteria and hallucinations” or “strange lights caused by space dust” or “Catholic Church undertakes big scam to drive up church attendance” or “Pope is an alien from outer space - the invasion begins”.

How many souls would truly repent, convert and stay with God all their lives? The sad fact is probably the same number that are drawn to God through His mysterious tugging at their souls, hearts and minds.

For me, God’s tangible presence is in the Bible, Mass, Sacraments, the inspired words shared by saints, converts and reverts, the lives and sacrifices of the priests, religious and devote laity, the beauty of creation (when God opens my eyes so I can share in His delight), prayer and the times when God speaks in the quiet. All of this is more real and tangible than anything that the world has to offer.

All of the above is just some thoughts bearing in mind that I have a long way to go on the journey of faith.

 

[DavidFilmer]

What is the purpose of God hiding himself from us? God want’s all his children to have faith right? The easiest way would be to reveal himself in our world. Why doesn’t he do that?

Because he also wants us to have the freedom to choose to accept or deny him.

If he revealed himself to us fully, we could not help but accept him (which would be a freewill choice, but flippin’ obvious).

 

[TK421]

What is the purpose of God hiding himself from us? God want’s all his children to have faith right? The easiest way would be to reveal himself in our world. Why doesn’t he do that?

Thanks for any answers!

Because He is patient, not wanting anybody to perish, but everybody to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3: 9)

The conclusion in the original post is faulty. Presenting mankind before the face of God would be damning, not saving. Faith is not a synonym for the intellectual acceptance of an idea. It is the trust a child has when he steps into a car, is buckled into his child seat, and goes on a 70 mph ride on the highway with his mother without a worry in the world. If a wicked man is presented before the throne of God, what he has to offer God is his stuttering, quivering, feeble, coldly pragmatic and utterly unconditional surrender, but not his repentance. Repentance is accomplished when God is hidden.

 

[Betheone]

What is the purpose of God hiding himself from us? God want’s all his children to have faith right? The easiest way would be to reveal himself in our world. Why doesn’t he do that?

Thanks for any answers!

Thomas believed because he saw the risen Christ. Yet Jesus also said blessed are they that have not seen but believe. Sure, it would be easy for God to have a physical presence in our world in order for many doubters to believe. Even the apostles asked Jesus to show them the Father, didn’t they?

But something like this already happened. Jesus came, and they did not believe. Many still don’t believe. So what difference would it make, really, if God declared Himself present in our world when the world will refuse to believe He is here?

Personally, I’m happy with the knowledge that God is with us, even though I cannot see Him.
His presence is everywhere, and it is this indirect revelation that is ultimately more beneficial to me.

That’s my take on it.

 

[Nacho45]

Who says He is hidden? I see evidence of God everywhere.

I think a better question would be, “Why do people always second guess God?”

 

[ServusHumilis]

God hasn’t hidden himself from us at all but rather has made Himself totally available to us for all time in the Eucharist. We can seek him out daily if we wish through the Sacrifice of the Mass, receiving Holy Communion, and through Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

 

[catholicscot]

What is the purpose of God hiding himself from us? God want’s all his children to have faith right? The easiest way would be to reveal himself in our world. Why doesn’t he do that?

Thanks for any answers!

There are several possible answers to that. The philosopher Simone Weil suggested that God is such an overwhelming Presence that nothing can exist near Him without necessarily being annihilated. In order for us to exist at all He needs, in a sense, to withdraw Himself from His creation although He leaves abundant traces of His presence and specifically reveals Himself to us through the Law and the Prophets and above all in His Incarnation.

Another suggestion would be that Love is only love if it is freely given and involves an element of risk (the only way of never being hurt is never to love). An obvious presence of God would remove both the elements of freedom and risk and consequently we would offer the obedience of a slave instead of the love of a child.

I recently blogged about the God hidden in Darkness this might be relevant to your question

If God disappears into darkness it is not because He is dark but because we are. The reason we have for seeking Him and no other is that only thus can we transform our darkness into His light or, rather, can we allow ourselves to be liberated from a dark kingdom and transported into the realm of light in which, and in which only, we can live and move and have our being in happiness and joy all the days of our lives.

 

[david_patrick]

why doesn’t God reveal Himself to the world, and why not…
well, mysteries unfold-
who was the strongest man that ever lived? answer:Jesus-the strength was in love; hence, love of many types-including Divine love is real, ever present…so God does reveal himself in love…
if love is a task-the action of it might be observed and this proof of God in the world-

this is not a ‘corny’ subject for a man to believe in love…as i could also say God is there in the sunrise-sure i am selfish to wait in awe…(just me)it is a miracle…as miracles are real, here now today, not so much the miracles of a healed hand (it could happen); a small everyday miracle counts…Life!

in my selfish awe of sun rises-i might include by choice-thinking of the suffering of the world…
that means to me -my baptism is at work, as a sacrament, forever helping me…this is ‘Himself’ in the world through sacrament… man with a soul, man with a spirit, as if a human sponge to God’s Holy Spirit-as an ocean of possibility/ God reveals himself in people-they have souls…

yet, ironies of the man/God, Jesus Christ, tells much and shows sometimes in conflict,

so the inquiry is not so much why God does not show himself-as much as the suffering of the moment, those unknowns being revealed, much like Jesus on the Cross-a man who asked :“WHY?”

if you are serious, poster, of many questions-ask your self who what where when and how-in this thought—God so loved the world-he gave his only begotten son/…i leave the rest up to you…peace, brother!

 

[ServusHumilis]

…God so loved the world-he gave his only begotten son/…!

Yes, and His only begotten son instituted the way in which His own death should be commemorated by giving us the Mass. He is truly present in body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist. He doesn’t need to show Himself to us, we need to show ourselves to Him.

 

[Thorns]

Because he also wants us to have the freedom to choose to accept or deny him.

If he revealed himself to us fully, we could not help but accept him (which would be a freewill choice, but flippin’ obvious).

If that were true then no one would’ve denied Jesus.

 

[Bobby_Ray]

I’m sorry to all if my original question sounded ridiculous. But that question is literally the biggest question standing between myself and God right now. I’m at a big “crossroads” in my faith. I’ve really started to doubt God and his presence in my life. Although I pray everynight, partake in communion, and attend confession, I still don’t feel his presence. My faith seems weakend, and my life has become a bit dull. It’s almost as if apathy has entered my very soul.

It’s a weird feeling, but this is question that, if answered, could easily re-ignite the faith fire that has seemed to cool down. I’ve seen responses that could be promising, which I’m about to reply too. Please give me sometime.

Peace my brothers and sisters!

 

[Betheone]

I’m sorry to all if my original question sounded ridiculous. But that question is literally the biggest question standing between myself and God right now. I’m at a big “crossroads” in my faith. I’ve really started to doubt God and his presence in my life. Although I pray everynight, partake in communion, and attend confession, I still don’t feel his presence. My faith seems weakend, and my life has become a bit dull. It’s almost as if apathy has entered my very soul.

It’s a weird feeling, but this is question that, if answered, could easily re-ignite the faith fire that has seemed to cool down. I’ve seen responses that could be promising, which I’m about to reply too. Please give me sometime.

Peace my brothers and sisters!

I think I understand where you are coming from now. I used to think that I could only feel God’s presence if I prayed diligently and solemnly at church. I was hoping for flashes of inspiration from the Holy Spirit, or something heartfelt and uplifting. Little did I know that I could get that same burst of spiritual joy while talking to friends or taking my dog for a walk in the park, or even listening to the rain at night. I could do that because I realized that moments of shared love and joy came directly from God.

I pray that you will be comforted with the knowledge that God is present with you even though you don’t “feel” Him. Take comfort in the knowledge that God is there in even the smallest of joys. We tend to think that we can only be close to God when we are at church, or while we are reading scripture, or when we are living perfectly sinless lives. But God is just as present in a smile and a kind word. He is also closest to us when we are lost or in pain, or even doubting whether He exists.

 

[Avila123]

I think I understand where you are coming from now. I used to think that I could only feel God’s presence if I prayed diligently and solemnly at church. I was hoping for flashes of inspiration from the Holy Spirit, or something heartfelt and uplifting. Little did I know that I could get that same burst of spiritual joy while talking to friends or taking my dog for a walk in the park, or even listening to the rain at night. I could do that because I realized that moments of shared love and joy came directly from God.

I pray that you will be comforted with the knowledge that God is present with you even though you don’t “feel” Him. Take comfort in the knowledge that God is there in even the smallest of joys. We tend to think that we can only be close to God when we are at church, or while we are reading scripture, or when we are living perfectly sinless lives. But God is just as present in a smile and a kind word. He is also closest to us when we are lost or in pain, or even doubting whether He exists.

Only thing I would add is to suggest not relying just on feelings, maybe it is a time of test to strengthen you (just a thought)?. Perhaps you could ask your priest if you could arrange to talk to him for some spiritual guidance? The situation will not be new to him and he will be able to offer some resources to help you. Some of the most devout saints suffered the same as you, so you are in excellent company.

I pray that God will bless and strengthen you in this difficult time and keep you with Him on the narrow path, Amen.

 

[cthomp1961]

Who says He is hidden? I see evidence of God everywhere.

I think a better question would be, “Why do people always second guess God?”

Amen Nacho
Blessed are they who believe without seeing…When I see a spectacular sunrise that looks like a painting,I see Him. When I see the perfect fingernails on a newborns tiny fingers, I see HIM When I hear the birds singing so happily as if in praise to HIM, I see HIM. When I see someone give to the poor, I see Him. When the snow falls and the silence that is all around,HE is there…

 

[Bobby_Ray]

I think I understand where you are coming from now. I used to think that I could only feel God’s presence if I prayed diligently and solemnly at church. I was hoping for flashes of inspiration from the Holy Spirit, or something heartfelt and uplifting. Little did I know that I could get that same burst of spiritual joy while talking to friends or taking my dog for a walk in the park, or even listening to the rain at night. I could do that because I realized that moments of shared love and joy came directly from God.

I pray that you will be comforted with the knowledge that God is present with you even though you don’t “feel” Him. Take comfort in the knowledge that God is there in even the smallest of joys. We tend to think that we can only be close to God when we are at church, or while we are reading scripture, or when we are living perfectly sinless lives. But God is just as present in a smile and a kind word. He is also closest to us when we are lost or in pain, or even doubting whether He exists.

Thank you for your kind and understanding response. It means a lot to me that total strangers would help me with a difficult part of my life.

One question: What do you mean by God being closest to us when we are in pain or suffering?

It doesn’t feel like my situation is getting any better. I’m sorry to be such a downer haha.

 

[Liastar]

He’s not hidden. He appears to his chosen in oder they carry his personality, sovereignty, power, love and wisdom to the body. If he were to make a physical appearance, rent an apartment, get a job, speak in the public square, enter congress, etc., the Luciferian trillionaires would be on him in two seconds making him out a total slime criminal of some kind and paralyzing the people’s ability to receive via control of mass media. They would try to kill him (which will fail). He is scheduled, however, to make a grand entrance sometime soon from the air. The saints, angels and army of God will be with him and its really going to be clean house time. Meanwhile, if you’ve seem me, you’ve seen God as he has crowned me as a Morning Star Royal and Saint (Sent) and I have come from his presence when he transported me into paradise to meet the LORD and receive the Light of the Father. Sounds far-fetched because impostors have made it out as such. But this is how God does business. Holy love to you. Be patient and know that God is with us ♔

 

[Betheone]

Thank you for your kind and understanding response. It means a lot to me that total strangers would help me with a difficult part of my life.

One question: What do you mean by God being closest to us when we are in pain or suffering?

It doesn’t feel like my situation is getting any better. I’m sorry to be such a downer haha.

No worries! I spent 20 years wondering whether God really was on my side or not. I even stopped praying. When I wrote that God is closest to is when we are in pain or suffering, I meant that He is calling us to come back to Him even more earnestly than He normally does.

God calls us all the time, but we are always busy with life to hear Him. Or maybe we are too caught up in our own opinions and conclusions to open our minds and hearts to His voice. When we pray, we spend a lot of time talking and not enough time listening. Prayer is a conversation with God, and all the best conversations have equal parts talking and listening.

When we are in pain or suffering we spend a lot of energy thinking about ourselves and how bad people or bad situations hurt us. But God is calling us during this time, asking us to break out of this self-centered thinking and look at the bigger picture. He wants us to be patient with His plan, if only we would just let it happen.

You’re not being a downer, trust me. We all doubt. I think it is healthy that we do because we can learn to open ourselves up to a meaningful dialogue with God and learn to appreciate Him more than we would if we were just simply following Him without question.

God bless!