Isaiah 45:15
God Hides Himself
15 Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself, the God and Savior of Israel.
Isaiah 55:8
God's Thoughts are not Our Thoughts
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
Job 13:24
Job Asks God Why He Hides
24 Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?
1 Kings 19:9-18
The LORD Appears to the Prophet Elijah
9 And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
11 The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
15 The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
John 1:43-51
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”
Is God an Introvert?...He seems to be One who likes to hide...And He seems quite the quiet One...The Prophet Isaiah says, truly you are a God who has been hiding Himself, the God and Savior of Israel...And in the midst of all his suffering Job wonders where God is, and even asks if He considers him an enemy of His...If God is everywhere and always near to us, why can't He be found by blameless Job, or any of His followers?...It seems that God may be an Introvert?...Is that even possible, for the Almighty One?...One who can be anywhere, at anytime, yet why can't He be found in our times of need, and those other times when we are looking for Him...
Quiet and humble seem to be two of His characteristics...And I think we miss this about Him...While man likes to see things and often to be seen, especially when we do something good or something we have done that we want recognized...We very much like to use our eyes...We like to talk...God seems to enjoy quietly to be working in the background without many noticing Him...There is a great paradox in God's Way's and in our ways...And in His thoughts versus our thoughts...
Is it possible that man likes to be seen with pomp and circumstance, while God likes to stay hidden and be so Divinely Humble, while working gently and quietly in the background not getting any attention, or getting any credit for what is going on in our lives and in the world and universe...Recognition does not seem to be high on His list...Could working in the background moment to moment and day to day be the way God really is?...This is hard for man to understand, because when we do something good our nature is to show people or get them to notice what we have done...
Can God's voice be so quiet, that we might miss Him?...Instead of looking with our eyes, are we listening for God in the right places?...Elijah, one of our Great Prophets looked for God in the mountains, in the rocks, in the wind, in an earthquake, and in a fire...But God was not there...Elijah found God by listening...And Elijah heard Him in the most gentlest of whispers...
The disciple Philip went looking for Nathanael to tell him about Someone Special...Philip told him he found a Man who was the One Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph...Nathaniel said, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”...Nazareth, as well as Jesus' birthplace of Bethlehem were small villages...And evidently Nazareth had a bad reputation for Nathaniel to say, "Can anything good come from there."...There was this prejudice against Nazareth...The best thing in the world came from Nazareth...It is our Messiah, Jesus our LORD and our God...And Jesus did not concern Himself for recognition...And He is quiet and most humble...