In search of God

"Where are you, God?" He wrote on his computer. Millions of people have asked the same question. Why does God seem so hard to find? How can we find it? 

He sat in front of his new computer, thinking about how to ask the question.

He was Hindu and, it could be said, a minority within another minority. It belonged to just two percent of Christians in Indian culture, dominated by Hinduism. And, in addition, after years of studying his Bible and finding many contradictions with what he had always believed, he was beginning to distance himself more and more from those who shared his faith.

His faith in religions had shaken, but his faith in God remained firm. Only ... where was He? What did I want to teach him? What did he want me to do?

Finally, without knowing where to go, he wrote in his internet search engine the simple question: "Where are you, God?"

Before you start searching

This is a common question - a great question, one that many people ask for different reasons. The search is usually triggered by moments of difficulty, when we seek help or encouragement. Sometimes it arises from doubt, when we need to reinforce our belief that God really exists, and truly cares. Perhaps it begins with pure intellectual curiosity in an attempt to understand the big questions, such as the purpose of life. Even unbelievers and cynics wonder: "Where is God when there is so much evil and suffering in the world?", Trying to question the existence of God.

What about you? Are you looking for God?

If so, there are two questions to answer before starting your search. One of them has to do with fundamental issues about God and the history of mankind, and that is what we will answer first in this series of two articles. The answer to the second question will determine your chances of finding God.

Question 1: Can we find God if He hides?

Is God hard to find because he is playing a kind of cosmic hide and seek game with us? Well, in a way, yes. God in fact tells us that He is hiding, but it is not a game.

Many prophets, addressing God's chosen people, said that He had hidden. "Truly you are God who covers up," said Isaiah. The people were facing serious difficulties then. Why would God do something like that?

People "will go looking for the Eternal, and will not find him," Hosea wrote, explaining that God "turned away from them." And Micah also told them: “you will cry out to the Eternal, and he will not answer you; before he will hide his face from you at that time. ”

Why would God hide from those who seek him?

Micah answered this question by summarizing the broken relationship that humanity in general has had with God: "because you did evil works" (Micah 3: 4).

Let's put ourselves in God's place for a moment. One of the lessons that are repeated throughout the Bible is related to the lousy behavior that human beings have had in our relationship with God. We should not be surprised then that He is more than a little skeptical when we say we want to seek Him.

Who hid first?

It all started with Adam and Eve. God created them, communicated with them, taught them, loved them, and warned them about the danger of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil - until they coldly ignored it and decided to follow Satan.

And what did they do when they "heard the voice of the Eternal God who was walking in the garden"? "The man and his wife hid from the presence of the Eternal God" (Genesis 3: 8, emphasis added).  

Who hid first? God no!

Many times God offered his people to reestablish their relationship with Him. When Israel cried out in their slavery, He replied: "Here I am," He freed them, gave them a home and promised them many blessings. The only thing he justifiably expected in return was respect and obedience. But for more than 800 years, Israel and Judah rejected God repeatedly, seeking him only to get them out of trouble.

Later, God was even more evident, sending his Son in the flesh to a very religious culture. But Christ met with continued hostility and resistance, coming from people who only wanted to relate to God on their own terms, not His. Ironically, the most stubborn and reluctant to listen were religious leaders!

Christ called them hypocrites explaining: “This people with lips honors me, but their heart is far from me. For in vain they honor me, teaching as doctrines commandments of men ”(Mark 7: 6-8).

Unfortunately, since Jesus pronounced this harsh reproach, things have only got worse. However, this should not surprise us, because it was He himself who said: “Many will come in my name, saying: I am the Christ; many will deceive ”(Matthew 24: 5).

You can't find God in the dark

Note the emphasis of Jesus' words: not a few, but many would come in his name. Many would be deceived by those who use his name falsely and claim to represent him. Religious deception, explained Jesus Christ, would be one of the great signs of the end time. Now look around, as the man from India did, to all the contradictory and often contentious Christian churches that exist today, and ask yourself: "Was the prophecy true?"    

No one likes to think or hear that they are deceived. These words still impress and offend people as much as they did in the past. But the Word of God clearly says that the whole world is shrouded in spiritual darkness, blind to Him and his truth. No one likes to think or hear that he is deceived. These words still impress and offend people as much as they did in the past. But the Word of God clearly says that the whole world is shrouded in spiritual darkness, blind to Him and his truth.

Why? Again, Jesus Christ told the uncomfortable truth in John 3: 19-20: “This is the condemnation: that the light came into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Because everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his works are not rebuked. ”

So, yes, humanity finds itself in the darkness of deception due to our own and God's decisions.

Paul, in Romans 1:21, summed up the choice of human beings by saying: “having known God, they did not glorify him as God, nor did they give him thanks, but rather they were puffed up in their reasoning, and their foolish heart was blackened” .

"And since they did not approve of taking God into account," He "delivered them" to whatever they wanted to do (vv. 28, 24).

So, yes, God has allowed the darkness of deception to remain and hide Him from humanity.

But that does not mean that God has given up on us. His promises remain that Christ will return, his truth will be understood, humanity is not lost forever and that everyone will eventually know him. To understand the wonderful scope of God's plan of salvation, be sure to read our pamphlets. The holy feasts of God: He has a plan for you and The Mystery of the Kingdom.   

But, as long as those promises are not fulfilled, can God be found? The answer is: yes, if ...

Our part and that of God

Paul told the Greek philosophers of Athens that God “of one blood has made all the lineage of men… so that they may seek God, if in some way, by feeling, they can find him, although he is certainly not far from each of us. ”(Acts 17: 26-27).

God wants us to find him; But, for thousands of years the only thing he has received from millions of people is empty words. Are you one of the exceptional people who are really willing to "seek God" and "feel to find him"? Do you really want to know Him and his way and, unlike the majority, are you willing to obey Him? That is your part in the search.

But God the Father and Jesus Christ also have a part to do, without which our search is useless. They must bring and reveal.   

Analyze the words of Jesus Christ: "No one can come to me, if the Father who sent me will not bring him [guide, incite]" (John 6:44).

Now, relate that to what we read in Matthew 11:27: "No one knows the Son, except the Father, nor the Father knows any but the Son, and the one whom the Son wants to reveal."

Very few today understand what Christ was saying here. No one, repeated several times, can approach Him or know God if God does not decide to bring him, or if Christ does not decide to reveal him to the Father. 

But let's imagine that God decides to "call" you (another term the Bible uses to describe the way God "brings" someone). What happens then?

That depends on the answer to the second question. The first question, which we answer in this article, is: "Can you find God if He hides?" And the second is equally important: "Can God find you if you hide?"