Are You Missing God Right in Front of You?

Romans 1:20

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

God is so hard to find right now. It almost seems like he’s hiding. The pandemic rages on. The tensions in our country ebb and flow. Your own personal problems seem amplified. You’ve prayed. And prayed. And prayed. And God seems so far away.

 We can easily begin to think of God as being completely separated from us. As if he’s as far from us as heaven is from earth. As if our only connection to him is a long-distance letter—the Bible. As if he really has nothing to do with the world.

 We much more easily become attached to what’s right in front of us. That might be our worries and our struggles. It might also be our possessions, our friends, or our families. We can see them. We can touch them. They’re real, much more real to us than God.

 The people to whom Paul wrote this letter lived among people who worshiped what was right in front of them. “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles” (Romans 1:22). They made statues that looked like people or animals. They called them gods. They worshiped created things. If there was a Creator, he seemed too far away. He couldn’t be seen. He couldn’t be touched. And so, he couldn’t be worshiped.

 We would never be so foolish, right? To worship a statue made by human hands. To celebrate human achievement on a level with God. To put our trust in created things above God. Certainly not.

 Except when the feeling of hopelessness sets in when a pandemic lasts another month and human attempts to stop it seem to barely slow it down. We live in the 21st century for goodness’ sake! Hasn’t medicine advanced since the last pandemic?

 Or when the people thought you could rely on, people who seemed strong, who seemed like they could do anything, fail to live up to your expectations in a time of crisis. If they’re falling apart, what’s going to keep me from despair?

 Or when you lose your job—again—and you walk in the front door of a house you might not be able to afford much longer.

 Or when you’re asked to sacrifice your rights for a while. And your reaction isn’t love but anger.

 What happens when you put your trust in what’s right in front of you? When what’s right in front of you disappears, you’re left with nothing.

 Are you missing God right in front of you? He’s given clues he’s there. Paul says about him, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen” (Romans 1:20). You can see his power to create. With every blowing of the wind. With every raindrop. With all the stars in the night sky. Even with all those things you’ve put your trust in instead of him. He’s right there!

 He’s right in front of you.

 Why does God put this evidence right in front of us? “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us” (Acts 17:27).

 But God comes even closer. If we only look for him in what he’s made, we won’t know the whole story. This first knowledge is only a stepping stone. He wants us to find him. And so he shows himself in his Word. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:1,14). He wanted us to know him. And so he came. He didn’t stay up in heaven. He didn’t just speak through prophets. He sent his Son to us.

 Jesus shows the Father’s love to people who’ve worshiped the creation instead of the Creator. No, you haven’t spoken to Jesus face to face. But he is right in front of you. He comes to you in the Word of God as the Word of God. He raises your eyes from earth to heaven. He excuses you, even though you were without excuse (Romans 1:20), and takes your place under God's wrath (Romans 1:18). And now, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6). God is not just right in front of you. He dwells within you.

 Cry out to your God. He’s not too far away to hear you. He listens.

 Hear your God. His voice is not too faint. He speaks to you through his Word.

 See your God. He’s right in front of you.