Why is God So Mysterious?

This "Calvin and Hobbes" asks one of the great questions. As atheist Bertrand Russel asked of God, "why didn't You give us more evidence?" Jesus tells us that He came to draw all people to Himself (John 12:32). So, for instance, why doesn't He go live on worldwide television and dispel all doubts about His power and Truth? In fact, why not host a weekly Q&A? Surely the benefits of such direct and incontrovertible communication would be enormous. Why all the mystery?

There are many problems with this point of view. First, it contains the hidden premise that we can deduce what God should do. Obviously, that's not true of the Christian God. The God that Christians believe in is infinitely wise, far beyond anything that we can imagine.

But a more important problem is that it wouldn't work. In John 12, Jesus speaks to His Father, and the Father audibly replies. A crowd heard God the Father speak!  Did these people then believe? Of course not. Some did, but others thought it might be an angel, or simply thunder. Such is the power of rationalization. We can experience miracles and then quickly explain them away in our minds.

Let's say, though, that you are able to prove God's existance to your own satisfaction. That's not sufficient. Faith entails not just knowledge, but also trust. This faith, this trust leads us to love. You can look all around you for examples. Think of the faith children have in their parents. They trust that their parents will provide, just as God calls us to trust in Him. Simply knowing that God exists doesn't lead us to have faith in Him, and it doesn't lead us to love Him.

This is why it is so important that God chooses in which way He will come to us. God's desire to draw all people to HImself is a desire for us to love Him and to accept His awesome love. If we could come to God on our own time, in our own way, and to define our relationship with Him, would we choose what He wants for us? Probably not. The radical sacrifical love of the Cross is more or less the opposite of what we would choose in our fallen state.

When we get to Heaven, I am sure we will find many more reasons for why God chooses to love us in the way He has. Ultimately, though, we have to simply have faith that the God who created us knows what's best for us. We can not hope to plumb the depths of God's wisdom, or to be able to understand His motives.