And so we come to the third question. Is God Hidden? Why doesn't He simply show up sometime, visibly, and dumbfound the skeptics once and for all? First off I don't like the insinuation that I am a skeptic. I don't think of myself in that way but for the purpose of this time I will leave myself open to the smallest possibility of truth. Philip states that the real hungering desire of our age, if there is one, is that we want proof, evidence, a personal appearance, so that the God we have heard about becomes the God we see. To some degree I agree with that so I guess that to some degree I too am a skeptic.
Philip tells the story of Moses and how that very thing happened. God showed up in person and spoke to Moses face to face. God and Moses in a tent. Moses would go to the tent to talk with God and the entire camp would come out to watch. A pillar of cloud, God's visible presence, blocked the entrance to the tent. No one except for Moses knew what exactly went on inside and truth be told no one wanted to know. "Speak to us and we will listen," they said to Moses. "But do not have God speak to us or we will die." After each session with God Moses would exit glowing with light as the Glory of God remained. People actually had to turn away until He covered his head with a veil.
No one in those days spoke about waiting for God to show up. They saw the evidence, a clear visual experience. Any skeptic could hike over to Mount Sinai and touch the trembling mountain, and all doubts would vanish, one second before he did.
Yet with all that I can hardly believe what happened during those days. Moses climbs the mountain and while doing so the people below, the very people who lived through the ten plagues of Egypt, who crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, who drank water from a rock, who ate manna, those same people got so bored or impatient or whatever that they forgot all about God. By the time Moses returned they were dancing like heathens around a golden calf. The Israelites responded not with worship and love but with fear and rebellion. God's visible presence did nothing to improve lasting faith.
Philip explains how he had taken Richards complaints about God and put them into three simple questions. He pursued answering the three questions and found that the biblical answers, the facts of history provided no quick solutions. In fact the three questions and the following findings did nothing to solve the problems of disappointment with God. There was an overwhelming sense that there is a deeper underlying question to all this.
Alright then I'm not alone! Because that's exactly where I have been. For me, and I know it's different for each person, but for me God has not been nor is unfair all the time. For me and again I say, I know it's different for each person, but for me He has not been, nor is He always silent. And lastly God has not been nor is He always hidden from me. BUT..... the nagging question about the times He is or seems to be unfair, silent and hidden still exists.
It's obvious that a well-stocked life with miracles and spectacular signs of God's presence brought dismal results from the Israelites. So, Philip asks, "Would a burst of miracles nourish faith?" he says, and I agree, NO, not the kind of faith God seems interested in, evidently. The Israelites give us ample proof that signs may only addict us to signs, not to God.
The three questions seem only to leave more questions. Has God changed? Has God pulled back? Has God withdrawn Himself? OR........................................... Does God have a clue as to what He's doing? Is this all an experiment? And if so what does He want from me and what can I expect from Him.
Without somehow destroying me in the process, how could God reveal Himself in a way that would leave no room for Doubt? If there were no room for doubt, there would be no room for me. - Fredrick Buechner
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