Surely our God is a God who Hides Himself: we Serve Him yet He’s a Hiding & Hidden God

Our God is a God who hides Himself, for He is a hiding God, even a hidden God, a God who does many things in secret for us yet without being ostentatious; we need to know and trust God as the God who hides Himself, realising that the omnipotent God whom we are serving is still hiding Himself, especially when He is helping us.

Lord, grant us a fresh realisation that You are a God who hides Himself. Save us from trying to get some help outwardly from You. Save us from relying on the things You do for us in an outward way. May we know You as the hiding God, the God who does many things for us in secret, without being ostentatious. Thank You for helping us. Thank You for caring for us. Thank You for always being there for us, doing things in us and for us, yet in a hidden way! Amen, we love You, Lord!

On the one hand, we believers in Christ have God’s life and nature, and we have received and we enjoy eternal life.

Even more, we are learning to live by the divine life so that we may be rewarded with a special enjoyment of the eternal life in the coming age, and for eternity, we will richly and fully enjoy eternal life in the New Jerusalem! Hallelujah!

On the other hand, we need to realise that, even though we enjoy the Lord as we turn to our spirit, pray, and call on His name, our God is a hiding God, a God who hides Himself.

As we live our Christian life, as we come to the Lord concerning all things and in all things, we realise that He is not a God who does things for us outwardly but rather, He works in secret.

When we are young in the Lord, He seems to do a lot of things for us, and we feel so cared for and shepherded.

The more we advance in Him, however, the more we realise that, even though God does many things for us, He does it secretly, hiddenly, not openly and ostentatiously.

Even more, He may not do the things we may ask Him to do; He may not rescue us from certain situations, and He may not remove something that we think that He should remove, for it bothers us.

As we go on with the Lord, reading and praying over His word, enjoying and experiencing Christ, and functioning in the church life, we realise this mysterious matter that God is a God who hides Himself, the hiding God.

We may not like it, for we want Him to do this or that for us, and we may expect Him to accomplish this or change that, but this is what He is and who He is. May we open to Him and allow HIm to impress us with what He is and how He works in us and for us.

Surely our God is a God who Hides Himself: He’s Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Full of Forgiveness, yet He is the Hiding God

We may have heard and read before that God is a God who hides Himself, but we may still not fully realise what this means and how this applies to our Christian life.

Our God is a God who hides Himself – the hidden God. If we read the Bible, both in the Old and in the New Testament, we will realise that, even though God does many things, He hides Himself.

God has a temperament that dislikes ostentation. We may like to see God do this and that for us, and we may even ask Him to do this miracle for us or heal us; however, God does things secretly, not openly.

For example, He is the One who created the universe, and then He hid Himself in it, until we do not know where to find Him. His features and characteristics can be seen in the universe, yet He is hidden, for He is a hiding God.

Even when He came to be a man, when He was incarnated, He took His abode in a man, but that man was almost unknowable.

If someone met Jesus, he only saw a man called Jesus of Nazareth. If he met Jesus again, he may recognise that he has an intellect that is more than average, and maybe the third time he would see that Jesus must be a prophet.

Not even His disciples fully realised who Jesus was; they spent three and a half years with the Lord, in His company, but did not arrive at a true knowledge of Him.

Our God is a hiding God, a God who hides Himself; He is continually hiding. He would manifest Himself for a moment and then would conceal Himself again.

Sometimes we may see Him doing something, but then He hides Himself.

This is what Isaiah also realised when he expressed this thought in Isaiah 45:15, Surely You are a God who hides Himself, / O God of Israel.

He was very emphatic in his speaking, based on an accumulation of facts. Isaiah saw God’s doings. He saw what happened to Israel under the hand of God, and he beheld the experiences of God’s people.

As he saw all these, he was forced to acknowledge that God is a God who hides Himself.

How come Isaiah came to this conclusion? It was because God did countless things in the midst of the children of Israel and He did countless things in their personal lives, yet He concealed Himself. Wow!

We can also testify of the same fact today; although our God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and full of forgiveness, yet He is also a hiding God.

We see this clearly in the book of Esther, where the name of God is not even mentioned in this book.

He did many things in secret to spare the entire nation of Israel in that time, arranging for Esther to become the king’s wife and granting her favour in the king’s eyes, yet the name of God is not even mentioned.

God is seen working in secret, hiddenly, but He is the hiding God. This is the same with us today.

We may look around us, especially at the universe and things around us, and we may see the amazing characteristics of God, but we can’t see God.

God created the universe and then hid Himself in it, until we do not know where to find Him (Job 23:3).

This is why, even though we have God’s life and we shall never perish, we still need to seek God, pursue to know Him, and trust in Him as the One who hides Himself.

Many things happen around us and even to us, but God may not be seen; however, He is a hiding God, tenderly caring for us to dispense Himself into us in our daily living.

We may not even know what it is that He is doing, yet God is working to dispense Himself into us.

Humanly speaking, we see things happening here and there, we may go through sufferings and trials, and many things may happen to us, but when we exercise our spirit, we see and know God as the God who hides Himself.

Lord Jesus, unveil us to see that our God is a God who hides Himself! Amen, Lord, may we realise that our God is a hiding God. May we see that You are our life and everything, and at the same time, You are a God who hides Himself. Surely You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the Saviour! Oh Lord, thank You for being omnipresent, omnipotent, and full of forgiveness. Thank You for being the hiding God, the God who does many things for us and in us, yet in secret, not ostentatiously. Hallelujah, God created the whole universe and then hid Himself in it until we do not know where to find Him. Thank You Lord for all the things that You do in us and in our personal life, even though You conceal Yourself. Thank You for ceaselessly working, yet always being hidden. Hallelujah for our God who loves us, cares for us, and hiddenly works to make sure all things work together for good to those who love God, those who are called according to His purpose. Amen, Lord, may we see and trust You as the hiding God!

The Omnipotent God whom we are Serving is Still Hiding Himself, especially when He is helping us

If we look at the universe, at our Christian life, at the history of mankind, and at the history in the Bible, we will see that God is a God who hides Himself.

There are many things and many stories in the universe, yet in six thousand years no one has seen God (John 1:18).

This is why many even refuse to believe in God, for they say that God doesn’t exist, for we cannot see Him with our human eyes, we cannot touch Him with our hands, and we can’t feel Him or think about Him with our soul.

This is who God is; He does so many things, He arranges so many situations, and He is behind so many great events, yet is still hiding Himself, for He is the hiding God.

For example, the Lord worked behind the scenes in the situation of Esther in her time.

Then, in human history, we see how He moved in the God-man Jesus.

The only begotten Son of God, who is in the bosom of the Father, came to declare God; even this declaration, however, was hidden.

When Christ came, He came from a lowly place; He was not in the palace of the king, and He did not have a ministry that impacted everyone on earth at His time.

Rather, the only begotten Son came for the purpose of declaring God, yet God was hidden inside this man, this unbecoming man. His visage and form were marred, for He had no attractive form nor beautiful appearance (Isa. 53:2).

When others saw Him, it was difficult for them to realise that He was God. He grew up in the small town of Nazareth, in an insignificant province of Galilee.

Those around Him even said that no one of repute nor prophet ever came from Nazareth (John 1:46). Very few people thought that He was God, and even many of His disciples did not fully recognise Him. Yet God was hidden within Him.

What a wondrous fact this is! Amazing!

We need to realise that today God is in the same way; on the one hand, we exercise our spirit to touch Him, enjoy Him, and be filled with Him, but on the other hand, God is still hiding Himself.

The omnipotent God whom we are serving is still hiding Himself, especially when He is helping us (John 14:26; Rom. 8:28).

As Christians, we believe in the unseen One, we love the One we have not seen with our eyes, and we worship the One whom we have never met but we believe into Him.

Many times, because of our hiding God, others may ask us where our God is, where is His kingdom, and where is His help and His blessing.

Others may have many possessions, their health may be perfect, and nothing goes wrong with them, but we seem to not have a lot of things; our health may suffer, and many things go wrong in our life. Oh, Lord Jesus!

God has His way of doing things, and He is not ostentatious; He does not like to show what He can do and perform miracles for others to see.

Rather, our God is hidden. We cannot see Him, nor can others. But sooner or later our hidden God will come in to do something on our behalf to deal with those who do not believe in Him.

We believe this and we stand on this fact.

As believers in Christ, we rejoice when we touch the Lord, and we enjoy Him both personally and corporately. At the same time, we realise that the omnipotent God whom we are serving is still hiding Himself, especially when He is helping us.

We cannot see Him and, apparently, He is not doing anything for us.

Especially when we seem to need Him, when we have a certain need, when we’re sick, or when we are in suffering or in trials, the Lord may not do much to save us or change the situation.

It is as if He is silent, not responding to the most fervent of our prayers. Actually, God is with us all the time and, in a hidden way, He is doing many things for us.

We simply love Him and trust in Him. We do not trust in our own understanding; we do not rely on what we can do, and we do not seek to do our own will or insist on our own opinion and desire.

We simply trust in our hiding God, the God who hides Himself, and we believe that He can do in us what He said He will do.

The God who hides Himself is operating within us silently yet mightily (Phil. 2:13). He is silent in His operation, not making a show of it, yet He operates in a mighty way.

As long as we just open to Him, as long as we open our vessel to His divine dispensing, He dispenses Himself into us, and He works in a hidden way.

Our God, a God who hides Himself, operates in us all the time in a silent way yet in a mighty way. May we open to Him and give Him the cooperation He needs for Him to do in us what He needs to do.

Lord Jesus, thank You for what You are and praise You for what You are doing. Thank You for being our God, a God who hides Himself. We open to You. We want to cooperate with Your inner working. Cause us to realise that the omnipotent God whom we are serving is still hiding Himself, especially when He is helping us. Thank You, Lord, for everything You are doing. Thank You for helping us all the time, even though we do not see it. Thank You for always working, operating, and dispensing. We open to Your divine dispensing. May we not ask You to do things for us but rather, may we open to Your divine dispensing today! May we realise that the God who hides Himself is operating within us silently yet mightily! Hallelujah, faithful is He who called us, for He will also do it! Thank You, Lord, for operating in us both the willing and the working for Your good pleasure. We open to Your operating. Do in us what You want to do. We trust in You. We open to You as the God who hides Himself. Dispense Yourself into us more today! Amen!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1956, vol. 2, “A God Who Hides Himself,” pp. 3-7, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Believers (1) (2026 July Semi-Annual Training), week 2, “The Eternal Life—the Life of God with the Divine Nature, the Triune God Being the Structure of the Bible, and the Hidden God, a God Who Hides Himself” – day 5.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, / But trust Him for His grace; / Behind a frowning providence / He hides a smiling face. / His purposes will ripen fast, / Unfolding every hour: / The bud may have a bitter taste, / But sweet will be the flower. (Hymns #675 stanzas 4-5)
  – A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, / He taketh my burden away; / He holdeth me up and I shall not be moved, / He giveth me strength as my day. / With numberless blessings each moment He crowns, / And, filled with His fullness divine, / I sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God, / For such a Redeemer as mine! (Hymns #334 stanzas 2-3)
  – Thou hidden love of God, whose height, / Whose depth unfathomed no man knows, / I see from far Thy beauteous light, / Inly I sigh for Thy repose; / My heart is pained, nor can it be / At rest, till it finds rest in Thee. / Thy secret voice invites me still / The sweetness of Thy yoke to prove; / And fain I would: but though my will / Seems fixed, yet wide my passions rove; / Yet hindrances strew all the way; / I aim at Thee, yet from Thee stray. (Hymns #423 stanzas 1-2)