How to See God
“Why can’t we see God?”
My inquisitive six-year-old student fixed his gaze on me and waited for the all-wise, adult answer to his question.
“Well,” I began, “God is Spirit. He’s invisible.”
But the question pried open a place in my heart that concealed hidden doubts. As an adult, I’ve often wondered the same thing. I know we’re supposed to “walk by faith and not by sight,” but sometimes I wish I could see God with my own eyes.
Maybe you’ve experienced the same thing. Sometimes when our prayers seem to go unanswered and our mountains aren’t moving, we want a tangible reassurance that our faith is more than a fairy tale.
Other times, even when we feel especially close to God, we hunger for more of his presence.
We want to see God.
Seeing God in His Goodness
Moses was right there with us.
He had seen the burning bush, heard God’s voice, and experienced miracles. Exodus 33:11 says the Lord “spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to a friend.” Moses didn’t see God in all his glory, however. “Face to face” is likely an expression meaning “intimately.”
But that intimate relationship wasn’t enough. Moses longed for God’s presence to accompany him as he led the people to the promised land. He begged God, “please show me now your ways.” (Ex. 33:12-13)
Then Moses made another bold request.
“Show me your glory.”
Charles Spurgeon explains:
“I believe that Moses knew that God is a Spirit. I think he must have been sensible that the mind of man can never conceive an idea of the incomprehensible Jehovah. He must have learned that the God of Mount Sinai, the King whose feet glowed like a furnace, and made the mountain smoke, could never be grasped by the senses of a mortal. Yet it is likely with all this knowledge, the great lawgiver had a vague and indistinct idea that it might be possible for divinity to be seen.”
But no mortal could stand to see God in all his glory. Like the sun, his searing light would be blinding and his holiness overwhelming. (Isa. 6:5)
So instead, God told Moses, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”
“But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” (Ex. 33:19-20)
We can’t see God’s glory, but we can see his goodness.
The evidence of his goodness is all around us in the wonders of creation. If we open our eyes, we see the way God works all things together for our good.
David saw it. He, too, had a passion to see God’s face.
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.” (Ps.27:8)
Like Moses, David yearned to be in God’s presence and to learn God’s ways. And David came to this conclusion:
“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living! (Ps. 27:13)
David made the same discovery Moses did: when you seek God’s face, he shows you his goodness.
Seeing God in the Person of Jesus
God understands our desire to know him. So God the Son became human and lived on earth with us. The story can become so familiar that we forget how incredible it is.
Think about this: God created a universe with 200 billion trillion stars (or some other crazy-big, unimaginable number). When I think about the immensity of God’s handiwork, I feel foolish for thinking I could ever see or understand him.
This same God came to a puny planet orbiting an ordinary-sized star in one of the estimated 200 billion galaxies in the universe. He knows by name each of the eight billion people currently living on this planet. God isn’t a mysterious force or an imaginary friend. He’s a person, and he’s made himself known to us.
“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (John 1:18 ESV)
Seeing God When We Love One Another
Yet sometimes we can study Jesus’ life, learn about God’s character, and do all the spiritual things, yet still feel empty and alone. We want that warm hug, that affirming smile, that soothing voice, but since Jesus didn’t come to earth in our lifetime, God is still invisible to us.
God understands that, and he designed us to live in community so we can extend his love to one another.
Our good deeds and loving actions display God’s goodness.
“No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:12 ESV)
Looking for God’s Goodness
To help my students (and myself) to see God, I’ve added a new practice to my classroom routine. At the end of the day, I ask my students, “Where did you see God working today?”
I get a variety of answers:
- “God sent the rain to water to plants.”
- “I saw butterflies.”
- “Math was hard but God helped me understand it.”
I want the kids to be aware of God’s presence and to recognize his involvement in the world and in their lives.
But I also want to remind myself: When I want to see God, I’ll look for his goodness.
spends most days teaching a classroom full of lively five-and six-year-olds. She’s attracted to be fragrance of vanilla, the printed word, and all things blue and white. She delights in spending time with her husband and family, singing praises with her church choir peeps, and traveling. Her heart’s desire is to know God better and learn to trust him more. You can read more of her writing at MargaretKemp.com.
Photograph © Ana-Maria Berbec, used with permission
