God het Homself gewys, net nie soos ons dit vra nie
Kort antwoord: ‘n Teken in die wolke sou jou laat skrik, nie laat vertrou nie. God wys Homself soos ‘n persoon homself wys: Hy praat. En in Jesus het Hy ‘n gesig gekry.
Dis laat, die huis is stil, en jy bid. Jy vra nie veel nie. Net een teken, iets kleins, dat Hy daar is. En dan niks.
Die volgende dag sê iemand op TikTok: “As God wou hê ek moet in Hom glo, kon Hy net vir my ‘n teken gestuur het. Hy weet waar ek bly.”
Dit voel of hy jou gisteraand afgeluister het.
Die Bybel ken die vraag
Begin hier: jy is nie die eerste een wat so voel nie, en dit maak jou nie ‘n ongelowige nie. Psalm 13 vra hoe lank God sy gesig nog vir die digter gaan wegsteek. Jesaja 45:15 noem God selfs ‘n God wat Homself verberg. Blaise Pascal het oor hierdie verborge God geskryf dat daar genoeg lig is vir wie wil sien, en genoeg donker vir wie nie wil nie.
Die Bybel ontwyk nie die vraag nie. Dit leef daarmee.
Wat sou “wys” beteken?
Dink nou na oor wat jy eintlik vra. Sê nou môreoggend staan daar groot letters in die wolke: GOD BESTAAN. Wat sou jy weet? Jy sou weet daar is iets baie kragtigs daar bo. Maar God is nie nog ‘n ding in die heelal nie, net groter en sterker. Enigiets wat jy in die lug kan sien, is deel van die skepping. Dit sou jou laat skrik. Dit sou jou nie leer wie Hy is nie.
Kyk na Israel. Hulle het die see sien oopgaan en die berg Sinai sien rook. Kort daarna, terwyl Moses nog op die berg was, het hulle ‘n goue kalf gemaak (Eksodus 32). Skouspel skep nie vertroue nie. Dit skep hoogstens verbasing, en verbasing hou nie lank nie.
‘n Persoon leer jy nie ken deur ‘n bewys nie. Jy leer hom ken as hy praat en jy luister.
Die draai
En dit is presies wat God gedoen het. Hebreërs 1 begin deur te sê God het vroeër baie kere en op baie maniere deur die profete gepraat, maar in hierdie laaste tyd deur die Seun.
Een aand, kort voor die kruisiging, het een van Jesus se dissipels amper presies jou vraag gevra. Filippus sê: “Here, wys vir ons die Vader, dan is ons tevrede.” En Jesus antwoord: Wie My gesien het, het die Vader gesien (Johannes 14:8–9).
Die God wat Homself “nie wys nie”, het ‘n mens geword wat in Galilea rondgeloop het, wat kinders opgetel en by ‘n vriend se graf gehuil het. Hy het Homself nie te min gewys nie. Hy het so naby gekom dat baie Hom miskyk het.
Dit maak die stil aande nie minder stil nie. Maar dit beteken die stilte is nie die hele storie nie. Die God wat jy in die donker vra om te praat, het al gepraat, en sy Woord lê op jou bedkassie.
Volgende keer
As iemand sê God moet net ‘n teken stuur, vra: “Wat sou jy met die teken doen? Sou jy Hom vertrou, of net bang wees?”
En as jy self weer so ‘n stil aand het, lees eers Johannes 14 voordat jy na die wolke kyk.
Gaan dieper
God has shown himself, just not the way we ask
Short answer: A sign in the clouds would frighten you, not make you trust. God shows himself the way a person shows himself: he speaks. And in Jesus he has a face.
It is late, the house is quiet, and you pray. You don’t ask for much. Just one sign, something small, that he is there. And then nothing.
The next day someone on TikTok says: “If God wanted me to believe in him, he could just have sent me a sign. He knows where I live.”
It feels as if he was listening in last night.
The Bible knows the question
Start here: you are not the first to feel this, and it does not make you an unbeliever. Psalm 13 asks how long God will go on hiding his face from the psalmist. Isaiah 45:15 even calls God a God who hides himself. Blaise Pascal wrote of this hidden God that there is enough light for those who want to see, and enough darkness for those who don’t.
The Bible does not dodge the question. It lives with it.
What would “show” mean?
Now think about what you are actually asking. Suppose tomorrow morning there are huge letters in the clouds: GOD EXISTS. What would you know? You would know there is something very powerful up there. But God is not another thing in the universe, only bigger and stronger. Anything you can see in the sky is part of creation. It would frighten you. It would not teach you who he is.
Look at Israel. They saw the sea open and Mount Sinai smoke. Shortly afterwards, while Moses was still on the mountain, they made a golden calf (Exodus 32). Spectacle does not create trust. At most it creates astonishment, and astonishment doesn’t last.
You do not get to know a person through a proof. You get to know him when he speaks and you listen.
The turn
And that is exactly what God has done. Hebrews 1 opens by saying that God spoke long ago, many times and in many ways, through the prophets, but in these last days through the Son.
One evening, shortly before the crucifixion, one of Jesus’ disciples asked almost exactly your question. Philip says: “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” And Jesus answers: Whoever has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:8–9).
The God who “doesn’t show himself” became a man who walked around Galilee, who picked up children and wept at a friend’s grave. He did not show himself too little. He came so close that many looked straight past him.
That does not make the quiet nights less quiet. But it means the silence is not the whole story. The God you ask in the dark to speak has already spoken, and his Word is lying on your bedside table.
Next time
When someone says God should just send a sign, ask: “What would you do with the sign? Would you trust him, or just be scared?”
And if you have another quiet night like that yourself, read John 14 before you look at the clouds.