God in Quiet Mode

When our laptop virus protection is working properly, it's often working in "quiet mode." We can't see it, but it's there, doing its job.

Many centuries ago, Isaiah declared,

"Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior" (Isaiah 45:15). Since then, many people in every generation have had the same thought, and some have taken it to a further conclusion: that God does not exist at all.

The Bible, however, never goes there; in fact, it regards those who say there's no God as "fools" (see Psalm 14:1; 53:1). Nonetheless, the Bible acknowledges that sometimes God can be difficult to perceive in the midst of troubled situations (consider, in addition to Isaiah, 2 Samuel 22:12; Job 9:11; Psalm 10:1; Acts 17:27).

But is this really God hiding himself?

Scott Hoezee, on the staff at Calvin

Theological Seminary, suggests a different way to characterize God's activity when God seems to be not present in our times of trouble. Commenting on Pharaoh's oppression of the ancient Hebrews and the slaying of their male infants, Hoezee said, "Pharaoh creates terror while God seems to provide no comfort to help people in...