November 18, 2017. More Miracles?
Why doesn’t God perform more obvious, undeniable miracles? If he did, it seems more people would believe in him and we’d all believe with more confidence. When I think about it though, I’m afraid it wouldn’t really help. People would still make the same foolish mistakes we’re making now. It might even be worse.
Maybe there’d be fewer atheists, but…
We’d still be selfish and rebellious.
We’d still fail to love others as we should.
Our love and obedience for God would be less sincere.
We’d still distort the nature of God, arguing about what he’s like and what he wants from us.
We’d reshape God into our image, forming doctrines about him that suit us.
We’d try to make God our private genie, giving us what we want.
With increased miracles, our freedom to choose decreases and our guilt for wrong choices increases.
God wants our unconditional love. More miracles might just drive us further from that goal. We’d probably be more selfish, demanding, and unfaithful, like the Israelites in the desert after God delivered them from Egypt.
Another concern is that the more obvious God makes himself, and the more clearly he communicates his desires for us, the less opportunity we have to exercise free will, choosing to do what’s right. Without free will we cannot love. God seems to value our character more that our actions. He wants us to grow through seeking and trusting in the face of uncertainty.