Does God Hide?

We have often heard the verse that starts out, "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then...". Why would God's people need to seek God's face? Because God hides his face from his people when they claim his name but live in wickedness. God calls us to himself and continually convicts us. It is possible for us to enter into a place of believing that we will be untouched by the coming catastrophes and yet be mistaken. Though Micah 3 was originally about the nation of Israel, the nature of God toward his people is unchanging.

4 Then they will cry to the Lord,

But He will not hear them;

He will even hide His face from them at that time,

Because they have been evil in their deeds.

And later in the chapter:
11 Her heads judge for a bribe,
Her priests teach for pay,
And her prophets divine for money.
Yet they lean on the Lord, and say,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No harm can come upon us.”
12 Therefore because of you
Zion shall be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,
And the mountain of the temple
Like the bare hills of the forest.

There are hard days coming upon the US and the world. It is intended in part to purify those who claim to belong to Jesus. May our confidence be true faith and not presumption! When the economy collapses, the banks close, and there is no food on the grocery shelves, it will terrible for those who have not lived in the place of intimate obedience. Samson operated in a powerful gift even while he was in the midst of comprise. In a moment, he lost it all. May we be spiritually ready lest God hide his face from us in the day of trouble. Though we call out to him at that time, he will not hear us until we have turned from our wicked ways.