37. Why does God Keep Himself Hidden?

Faith is at the very heart of God’s plan for us. Scripture says that it’s impossible to please God without it. Through it we obtain His free gift of righteousness. By faith alone we are saved.

Faith isn’t natural to us. That’s because God doesn’t reveal Himself in a way that our physical senses can perceive Him. I’m not suggesting that God doesn’t allow us to be aware of His presence; He does. But our experience of Him comes by spiritual means—not physical.

Why would God keep Himself hidden at all? Wouldn’t it be much easier to simply appear and tell us what He wants? Well, that wouldn’t require faith, would it? Our inability to grasp God by our natural senses makes faith indispensable. Yet because faith is so contrary to everything instinctive to our humanity, believing God will never be all that easy. Apparently He never meant it to be!

From Free from the Power of Sin: the Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

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