Why doesn't God ever show Himself in modern times? Seems He could save Himself a lot of trouble if He did...

Answer 1

He shows Himself through His Word.

Joh 14:22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

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Answer 2

When God showed Himself in the past, (Biblical times) not everyone believed it then either. In my own personal experience with God, He has shown Himself to me at least 3 times that no matter how strong my urge is to doubt, those things stick in my memory. God could come down from the sky today with blazing chariots and a multitude of angels, and there will STILL be people saying " It's a fake... David Blaine could do that!" and some "Dont believe it... it's an act of Satan!" and yet still, bring some to their knees like back in the day.

What convinces one person is different from the next and there are just always going to be people who, no matter what, dont want to be convinced.

Answer 3

I understand the emotion behind your question quite well, I myself often shout about it when alone (usually after a hard day at work).

But, I have to admit that God can have some very good reasons for his approach, even as I hate the situation, since I've had enough of this decline of the world.

It all goes back to that damnable free will. We wanted wanted to do it our own way, so we'd have to learn the long way, the hard way, well ... the other way than God's revealed way. Leave the driving to us , very well. Unfortunately that set everything in motion, the whole ball of string. Prophecy basically is the Cliff's notes for how it plays out, and it isn't very shocking a result.

(Genesis is really about human nature, it's good and bad, and how it deals with God. We all have our moment in Eden and we all have that moment of decision, to take the apple or not, over and over again.)

One thing about wanting to deny Eden and start your own world, which is the effective result of the choice, is that you really have to have a lot of gumption/falderal/pride to say to God "Just leave the driving to us -- Man!"

Eden was basically the revealed way of doing things, that's why the Lion and the Lamb lay together in peace. They didn't need anything more, God provided all that mattered. But once you tinker with Eden, with the revealed result of God's way -- well it's pretty hard to get the Lion's and Lambs to get along again. That's just a direct result.

Domino after domino falls, each a result of the other, and it teaches a great lesson, that there is only one real way to do things, that there is a meaning, purpose, and time for all things, and that all creation screams this truth no matter what you do to it. It's meant to teach humility, that on our own we just don't get it. But with God we can do all things.

Unfortunately, in order to have built up an ego that big to say ... Hey God it's been swell but I think me and the woman is gonna do our own thing from nowz on ... well you need a whole lot of comeuppance to get down from that cloud.

So why aren't we seeing God so much in modern times? Well, first you might actually be seeing him as much but not believing it or being distracted. With less faith around its easy to misconstrue things as science or consider scientific solutions as unGodly, even if all that is a misunderstanding.

But I think he shows himself less because it's the time of preparation and of tribulation for us. Faith has to be able to survive times of difficulty, and faith is not built upon miracles, the Bible chastises us to not build it on such quicksand.

I think we have to realize just how bad a decision that first rejection was. It wasn't some quick decision either, I mean they were in freakin' Eden, so everything spoke of God. But the temptation of what they had been denied, access to the trees, and the mystery of what that was, the spoken words that the fruit of those trees would make them God, that was what held sway. Avarice, greed, curiosity, the fast way, in all of that there was no thought of what God had done for them, of what Eden was. I don't think if we survive the full story that we will ever forget that again. After such a decision made in hubris, we had to pay the piper and be humbled, knowing it was all our own fault, all the way to the bank.

I think as the story of this consequence reaches a climax, it must SEEM as if god has become more quiet or even abandoned us. Then in despair many will cry Abba, father, but crying in despair with no faith is always useless, more an insult than a prayer.

Hard times make strong people. But you have to survive the hard times. The obstacles tell us something about our character and our quality. Perhaps so will be the rewards in the afterlife, or after the Reckoning, who knows.

But one thing is sure, unfortunately. There could be a perfectly good reason, and poetic one for the quiet before the storm. See the quiet as a message and a test, for the storm will be no less.

For what it is worth, if you are tired of his not showing Himself enough, that means you fully realize your thirst for Him, so technically His approach has won you over, it's just that the loneliness and the hell of this crappy world are getting to you. Even to the point where you might think, He's abandoned you. Yet if you feel this way, then surely His approach was not abandonment, but a saving grace. It's just one Eureka and a lifetime away. Maybe, and then perhaps the shouting isn't such a bad thing after all.

May He be your shield and your sword in times of trouble and discontent, may your every breath speak the truth of God even when you are most low, may God bless and keep you, and all of use, and have mercy, so that we all may be forgiven and know His love forever and ever.

Answer 4

God does not show Himself to us visually nowdays for several reasons. First, He promised that he would not be back until the appointed time foretold in the book of Revelation. Second, if we don't notice Him revealing himself to us through His word and His creation, what will make us notice Him if He were simply walking about the earth?

Answer 5

I would imagine there is a trick to being (a) God...

If you do too much, people get dependent on you. If you do nothing, they lose hope. If you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all...

(Of course, I'm from the Atheist/Agnostic side of things - but I can appreciate the difficulty in being truly helpful without taking away a person's free will...)

Answer 6

Jesus came to this world. Many believed He was the Christ. Many did not. However, his teachings are still as strong today as they were back then.God gave us His Word, the Bible, it says all He has to say to mankind. He owes you nothing else, He gave His son for you. You owe God gratitude. Some people would not believe if He came to their house in a flaming chariot, surrounded by all the angels and arch angels, because of their hardness of heart toward the things of God and their blindness to the truth, deceived by Satan.

Answer 7

"...On the Seventh Day, God rested."

[Edit: "Oh, 'Dusty Shades', I _do_ mean to burst your little evangelical bubble: Much scholarly work has been done that shows the Book of Revelation occured in the first few centuries A.D."]

Answer 8

Humans have evolved to the point that they must take over and help G-d in all things now. He gave us the earth and life. He got us started. Now, it is time for us to do our share.

Answer 9

You have a point! But then he couldn't reward that "blind faith" thing, I suppose. (Seems a silly thing to reward to me. Not the kind of quality a parent would teach a child - to believe in something blindly)

Answer 10

He has and we would save ourselves a lot of trouble if we recognized Him.