Why isn't there more evidence for God?

Why does God hide? Why do we not have more evidence of Him? I have always found it amazing that Catholic thinkers and theologians were always acutely aware of this problem and that many Catholic Saints simply thought: well, how could it be any other way?

We all know that God could make Himself more obvious and apparent, especially to non-believers, if he wanted. "Why isn't there more evidence for God?" the skeptic always asks. "And if God is the same God that the Church professes to be the real God, then why doesn't he make that plainly obvious so as to invalidate all other false religions?" I think these are perfectly reasonable questions.

After I had abandoned hard atheism and moved into the amorphous agnostic category, this was certainly the most prominent question I had. The startling answer to this question is that God doesn't really want to be more obvious. I think there is enough evidence for those who truly wish to find God to find Him, and yet not so much that those who do not wish to find Him are forced to. God is love and He is not a rapist. The only way His love is meaningful is if it is taken with no strings attached. One of the most brilliant passages in Scripture, in my opinion, is Luke 11:10. "For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened" (Luke 11:10). This means that the most important distinction is NOT between believers and unbelievers, but between those who seek and those who do not. God does not want those who do not seek to find him. How can you receive God's love if you do not really want it? You can't. Only those who seek will find.

The fact that God IS love adds another dimension: we find God more in our hearts than anywhere else. This is not accidental or coincidental. This makes perfect sense. If God were best found in nature, math, or philosophy (he can still be found in these, but only imperfectly), then it would be the smartest people who would be closest to God. But this is not how God operates. The people with the biggest hearts are the ones closest to God, not those with the biggest heads. This is why many Saints said something to the effect of "how it could it be any other way?" when questioned about "evidence" for God. People filled with charity, humility, and mercy will find God, no matter how dumb they are. People who are proud, arrogant, and cold-hearted will not, no matter how smart they are. This is just the way it is, and the Saints are correct. How could it be any other way?