WOULD I LIVE DIFFERENTLY IF GOD WERE MORE VISIBLE IN THE WORLD?

I have often wondered why God is not more visibly recognizable in our world. If He truly exists and loves us, why not walk among us? Why not write us messages in the clouds? Why does He seem so distant to so many? I often assume that if He were more "visible" more people might be willing to put their faith in Him.

Prior to life of Jesus, the most celebrated event of History had been the Israelite exodus from Egypt. The story of Moses and his leading the people out of slavery and through the waters of the Red Sea has been the most celebrated event throughout Jewish history. When reading of these events, however, we begin to see why God relates to our world in the manner He does.

During the great "Exodus" (see the book of Exodus), God revealed himself in an extraordinary way. Not only did He show the people the full extent of His power (the plagues, parting the Sea, miraculous provision of water & food etc...), but He also lived "among them" in such a way as had never been seen before (or since).

"By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people"
(Ex. 13:21).

In addition, He would later descend upon them in an even more dramatic fashion:

"On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick could over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mt. Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently and the sound of the trumpet grew louder & louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him."
(19:16-19)

Wow. You would think that after witnessing such remarkable revelations as these the group would be unwaveringly resolute in their faith and trust (of God). However, if one reads on in the book of Exodus (indeed the rest of the Old Testament narratives as well), one will find that despite witnessing the very presence of God the Israelites continually rebelled against Him. So much so, in fact, that not long after these events God condemned them to wander in the desert for 40 years; long enough so that all the adults would die before the nation could enter the promised land (see Numbers 14).

What is the point? If we think that we would live in greater obedience, or be more spiritual if God where to do things differently- we are sadly mistaken. The Israelites proved that no matter how great a revelation mankind receives, our tendency is always to rebel against our Creator. Our struggles are no fault of God's, they result because we are fiercely independent and stubbornly refuse to be a people of obedience. This proves that we are a scarred (sinful) people and that we are in absolute need of God's redeeming, transforming grace. That grace is available only through the redemptive work of Jesus our Lord!