WHY DON’T I SEE GOD?

Key Scripture: This is because what is known about God should be plain to them because God made it plain to them. Ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—God’s eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through the things God has made. So humans are without excuse. Romans 1:19-20 (CEB)

Once upon a time there were two brothers, Ciego and Miveen. Ciego and Miveen led very similar lives… but they saw things in very different ways.

Ciego and Miveen grew up with very little - little food, little money, little love - and their parents were really dysfunctional …

Ciego saw how other kids lived and always wished he could be them. He saw how other kids had what he wanted, and to him, it just wasn’t fair. He hated his family and felt that everyone and everything was against him. Life was hard and it sucked.

Miveen saw how other kids lived and wondered why their life was different. He watched their parents and it was often in stark contrast to his own. He saw how hard his parents struggled, and he thought that must be why they were so angry and abusive. Or maybe Gramma or Grampa were angry to them when they were little? He had some friends who had more things than he did, but he had other friends who had a lot less. He noticed there were others way worse off than he was, and he became grateful for the things he had.

Ciego and Miveen both had to go to Sunday school at church…

Ciego thought it was just a bunch of silly fantasy and fairy tales. Everyone knows people can’t walk on water or be raised from the dead. He saw how some of the people at church behaved… how they treated each other badly, talked about each other behind each others’ backs… and it seemed like they weren’t any better than people who DIDN’T go to church. Besides, if God was supposed to be “our Father,” then He was probably just a bigger, badder version of his own father… and he wanted no part of that!!!

Miveen loved the stories of Jesus. How Jesus loved little children, and treated everyone with love and kindness and respect… even when others said they were really bad, Jesus still loved them. Miveen thought Jesus and Jesus' Father must be really loving, because even when he, and the others in the church, messed up and behaved badly, Jesus still loved them and forgave them. That’s the kind of Father he knew he needed.

Ciego and Miveen were able to join the Boy Scouts…

Ciego loved going on the camping trips as it was an opportunity to be away from his parents and to be as wild and free as he could be. On the hikes he would run through the forest screaming and scaring as many things as he could - including the troop leaders!

Miveen loved going on the camping trips as it was a time for him to be away from his troubled home life as well. He loved the quiet of the forest, (when there weren’t others running screaming through it!) and thanked God for the beauty he saw in the trees and the plants and the animals. He loved the stillness of the lake in the morning, and could feel God’s presence more easily here than anywhere else.

The boys grew into men, and both got jobs at the same company, got married, and had children.

Ciego’s wife was a beautiful woman… but he still thought a lot about that hot little redhead at work, and how she reminded him of that actress in that movie.

Miveen also married, and he thanked God every day for the gift that his wife was to him and to their family, and how her heart of service and love of God made her more and more beautiful every day.

Ciego loved science, and only believed what could be seen with the eyes, heard with the ears, experienced with the 5 senses and scientifically proven. Period.

Miveen loved science as well, and he praised God for His wisdom in not only creating science, but also for His love in doing so… in designing science to automatically create beauty in all things, from rainbows when it rains, to rock formations, to ocean waves, to snowflakes, to fields of flowers seen from afar.

Ciego and Miveen both got a pay raise at work.

Ciego felt it was about stinkin’ time, though he was still upset that he wasn’t making what he felt he SHOULD be making, or what he thought others probably made.

Miveen thanked God for His generous provision, and prayed that everything he did each day would be a reflection of God, and would therefore bring Him all the glory.

Both men were very gifted and talented in their work.

Ciego was quick to say that nothing was handed to him… he was self-taught and had worked hard to earn everything he had. When he was disciplined, he was quick to blame others and argue how he wasn’t at fault… even when deep down he knew there was some truth to what had been brought up.

Miveen saw his talents as gifts from God and therefore should be given away and shared. When he was disciplined, he would bring the rebuke before God in prayer and ask to be shown what was true in the correction, and how he could improve. He thanked God for all that he had been given, and prayed that God would make him into the man He created him to be, for others and for Him.

Their company held a fundraiser to raise money for the poor.

Ciego wanted no part of it. He felt that he had to earn everything he had, so other people should, too… especially those drunks and drug addicts that should just quit drinking and get a job.

Miveen remembered his childhood. He knew how a small change in the economy or his health or something else could be devastating to him and his family, so he did what he could to help the fundraiser, thinking, “There, but by the grace of God, go I…”

When storm clouds were on the horizon and it looked to be a snowy, harsh, cold wintery day…

Ciego complained about having to scrape ice off his windshield, and how long it took his truck to warm up, and how he was probably going to have to drive all the way to work dealing with stupid drivers from another state that didn’t know how to drive in the snow.

Miveen looked up and thanked God for the beautiful cloud formations, for the abundance of snow, especially in the mountains, that would fill the aquifers and provide the much needed water in the summer.

On sleepless nights Ciego would toss and turn and his mind would continuously fret and churn.

Miveen would strike up a conversation with God, discussing and handing over his concerns, until sleep eventually tucked him in.

One day Ciego and Miveen were discussing Jesus coming back. Ciego scoffed and said, “It’s been over 2000 years and nothing’s happened yet!” When Miveen replied, “God is being patient and is delaying His return to give people time to come to Him and be saved,” Ciego retorted, “I’m a good person. I don’t need to be saved by anyone. Besides, who wants to spend eternity playing a harp on some cloud?! I’d rather be partying it up with my friends down THERE!”

One terrible year, their mother was in a horrific car accident. After numerous surgeries and months of rehab she passed away.

Ciego became bitter and angry. When anyone would come to see him or offer their condolences or just want to spend time with him, he would refuse to answer the door until they left, or would send them away, telling them he wanted to be left alone. He was furious with God. Where was He in all of this? He felt this was just proof that God didn’t exist, and if He did, He certainly didn’t care. If He was a loving God, why would He ever let something like this happen? Why would He let someone suffer like that, and die??

Miveen was completely devastated by the loss of his mother as well. He wrestled mightily with God, trying to understand the same questions Ciego had. As horrific the loss and as deep as the wound was, there was a part of him that was grateful to God that at least the suffering was over, and that his mother was now with Him. Through it all, he never felt alone or abandoned. He saw each person who came over or called or prayed for him and his family as being the hands and feet of Jesus. He knew that God wasn’t going to show up in his living room, (although he desperately wished He would!) but that God DID show up in the living room when a neighbor brought over a meal, or when a family from church came by to see them, or when the phone rang and the person on the other end prayed for him. He slowly began to see that by going through this grueling experience, he could now better understand the pain of others, and could maybe help them go through similar things as well.  And he knew that even though he couldn’t understand it at all, that God was still good… that God did not make this happen… but He would use it for good, if Miveen would allow it.

One day, shortly after their mother’s death, while Miveen was leaving work he saw Ciego in the parking lot, just sitting in his car, so he walked over and knocked on the window. Ciego looked up at him and rolled the window down. Miveen could tell that Ciego had been crying.

“Hey Ciego, why don’t you come over to dinner. I’m sure my wife wouldn’t mind, and it would be good for us to have some time to talk.” Ciego really didn’t feel like it, and without knowing why, he slowly nodded his head and followed Miveen to his house.

During dinner the men talked about their lives and shared stories of their childhood. The mood was light, but there was a heaviness in the air. After dinner when it was time to leave, Ciego thanked them and Miveen walked him out.

They stood on the porch and Ciego looked like he really wanted to say something, so Miveen was silent and gave him the time and space he needed.

Finally, Ciego looked at Miveen with a pleading look on his face.

“What is it?” Miveen asked.

“I don’t understand.” Ciego answered.

Miveen felt there was more, so he looked at him gently and just waited. Ciego looked away and continued, “We grew up together. We’ve been through everything together. Our lives are so similar… and yet… they’re completely different. God has blessed you, and He’s cursed me. I don’t understand. He loves you and He hates me. Why?”

“God doesn’t hate you, Ciego.” Miveen said softly.

“Yes He does. You see God everywhere,” Ciego replied, “and I never see him.”

“You see Him when bad things happen and you start railing against Him and blaming Him for the bad things,” Miveen said, with a soft smile.

Ciego stared at his brother, trying to absorb what he’d said. “I don’t understand,” he said again. “I don’t see God… if He were here right now, I’d give him a piece of my mind!”

“You DO see God. Everybody see’s God, Ciego,” Miveen answered softly. “He’s everywhere. He’s constantly revealing Himself , but people want Him to show up the way THEY want Him to. They want God to be what THEY want Him to be, and do what THEY want Him to do… but He’s way bigger than that.”

“I don’t understand,” Ciego repeated.

“You do see God,” Miveen said again gently, putting his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “You just don’t realize that it’s Him. You don’t recognize Him, because you don’t have a relationship with Him.”

Ciego looked down and tears filled his eyes. “I’ve tried praying. He just doesn’t answer.”

“He’s not a genie in a bottle you can summon by your prayers to do your bidding,” Miveen answered. “He’s a loving Father Who wants a RELATIONSHIP with you. More than just rocket prayers you shoot to heaven when you want something. He wants to spend time with you, to have you sit silently with Him and learn to hear His voice.”

After a long time, Ciego sniffed and said softly, “I’d like that.”

“It takes time,” said Miveen. “Just as you can recognize my voice in a crowded room because of our relationship, you will begin to recognize His voice as well. You’ll start to see His love in everything… and that’s when you’ll start to see HIM… not as some apparition in your living room, but as He truly is. In the love all around you.”

Ciego looked at his brother with a softness that had never been there before. Then, he said, “Thank you, Miveen,” and he hugged his brother, and left.

SCRIPTURES

Isaiah 55:9 ~ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (ESV)

John 8:42 ~ Jesus replied, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here…” (NET)

2 Corinthians 1:4 ~ He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. (NLT)

Romans 1:19-20 ~ This is because what is known about God should be plain to them because God made it plain to them. Ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—God’s eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through the things God has made. So humans are without excuse. (CEB)