“If God wants us to believe in him, why doesn’t he just show himself?”
This question is certainly worth thinking about. Christianity describes God as all-good and all-powerful, and it claims that God wants everyone to believe in him. If that’s the case, then why doesn’t he just show himself in the sky for everyone to see? Why (partially) hide himself from us?
One possible answer to this is that God partially hides himself so that we can have time to repent of our sins instead of facing immediate judgment. To understand this, consider a teacher with two students in her class – Bob and Jose. Bob understands English and can hear perfectly. But Jose speaks English as a second language and is partially deaf. The teacher gives her students clear instructions about what they are to do and strictly warns them not to do otherwise. She then goes away and comes back. Upon her return, she finds that both Bob and Jose disobeyed. Upon questioning them, she finds out that Bob simply refused to do what he was told but Jose disobeyed partially because he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do. In this situation, shouldn’t the teacher treat Jose more leniently than Bob?
This may be part of the reason God partially hides himself from us. We often assume that if God fully revealed himself in all his glory, everyone would obey him. But that isn't necessarily the case. The fact that God partially hides himself could be intentional so that God can (justly) permit us to sin without facing any immediate and eternal judgment. Since his existence and will for our lives are not as evident as they could be, God can (for a time) be lenient toward us. And this gives us the opportunity to repent, turn toward him, and realize how dependent we are on him for doing what is right.
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