There are a variety of phrases within Christianity that we often use to imply that God is “so hard to find.” We say that we are “seeking direction” or that we are “waiting upon the Lord” or that we have “sought the Lord” about a particular matter but we are not clear about a specific path to take. We will say, “God has not spoken to me yet.” The Psalms are full of passages that speak of seeking for God when they say, for example, “How Long, O Lord?” (Psalm 6:3; 13:1; 35:17, etc.) meaning that they are waiting for God to deliver, when He has not yet delivered. Jesus said that if we seek then we shall find (Matthew 7:7-8), yet some (many?) of us often “seek” and never seem to “find.” Also, Christians obsess over “hearing the voice of God.” Sometimes Christians will pray, fast and spend extended periods of time in silence and solitude, exerting much effort, just to “hear” one word from God. Looking at our Christian heritage, our practices, our beliefs, as well as various lines throughout Scripture, one may ask this question: “If God truly exists, then why, for many of us, is He so hard to find?”
Why does there seem to be this “hide and seek” game with God? Why must we “seek” God if He’s already there? Why, for some, does it take an all-night prayer meeting, and a few days of fasting, to “find God,” or for Him to finally “show up”? Here are a few possible solutions to this “finding God/hearing from God” dilemma:
