How Does God Reveal Himself?

(And Why It Took Me Years to Finally See It)

How does God reveal Himself?

This question has plagued me for most of my life. As a young Christian in the Pentecostal expression of Christianity, I was always looking for signs of Him. The more spectacular the better.

Most of the time I left Church services, conferences, prayer time… disappointed and confused.

My desire for Him was deep but the experiences didn’t match it, and I felt a dissonance between an all powerful God that delivered “meh” revelations or weird physical outbursts that didn’t precipitate any inward change. How did that match?

I believe some of this disillusionment is part of why I wandered so far from my faith. There was a hyper focus on the movement of the Holy Spirit, often to the detriment of scripture, and this combination of human weakness and manipulation of “God experiences” left me more starving than if I’d not gone looking at all.

Any sort of logical or intellectual questioning I had was met with even more resistance, probably because it was hard to explain the things happening around me (like praying for healing and it not happening).

It’s not surprising that my return to Jesus started in my mind. The intellectual side of me that was diminished and minimized in the name of “faith” during my years in these types of Churches, ironically became the mechanism by which I returned to Jesus. I used research, apologetics, and rational thought to reconstruct my faith, and it is stronger today than it ever has been.

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So now that I’m back on solid ground, I’ve returned to this question, “God, how do you reveal yourself?”

I believe He reveals Himself in 5 distinct ways.

#1 Creation

The cosmos, nature, biology, even our internal moral wiring (conscience). It’s the universal canvas… available to all, regardless of time or geography.

• “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” – Psalm 19:1

• “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities… have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” – Romans 1:20

#2 His Covenant Through The Hebrew People

The specific, historical relationship with the Jewish people. A long, faithful revelation of God’s holiness, justice, mercy, and promises preserved in the Tanakh (the Old Testament).

• “The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.” – Deuteronomy 5:2

• “He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and rules to Israel.” – Psalm 147:19

• “To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.” – Romans 9:4

#3 Jesus of Nazareth

God in the flesh. The clearest, most accessible image of who God is.

• “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory…” – John 1:14

• “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” – John 14:9

• “In the past God spoke… through the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son.” – Hebrews 1:1–2

#4 Apostles & Eyewitness Testimony

A Spirit-led testimony written by eyewitnesses and apostles. Through their lives and letters (the New Testament), the revelation was recorded and preserved.

• “We did not follow cleverly devised stories… but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” – 2 Peter 1:16

• “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” – 2 Timothy 3:16

• “That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you…” – 1 John 1:3

#5 The Holy Spirit

The ongoing, internal, personal voice of God in the life of the believer. The Spirit speaking through scripture, people, our own internal conviction, dreams, miracles, and divine timing.

• “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit… will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” – John 14:26

• “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth.” – John 16:13

• “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” – Romans 8:16

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Because of my upbringing, I spent most of my time seeking God through the signs of the Holy Spirit. While I did briefly pursue a degree in Biblical Studies in college (and read the Bible cover to cover a few times), it often felt dry in comparison to the emotional highs of altar calls and worship conferences. I also bought into a lot of the replacement theology about the Church “taking over” the Covenantal blessing from Israel, so I virtually ignored the revelation of God through the Hebrew people.

How terribly wrong and shortsighted this was.

Today I’ve determined that God is speaking through all of these things; regularly, every day, and to those who are tuned in to listen.

When I wake up in the morning and read my Bible, I can feel the Holy Spirit helping me focus on certain passages. The more I study the Old Testament and the covenant with the Jewish people, the more alive the scripture gets.

But even just a few hours after my morning reading and prayers, the frequency starts to weaken. Like a foggy mirror, within the day, the revelation I had in that moment starts to fade. It’s only when I go back to that position of prayer and reading, that the channel starts to clear again.

And you wonder why God instructed the Hebrew people to pray three times a day? He knows… “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”.

Whenever I feel the fogginess returning, I head back into scripture again, trusting that line of communication will open once again. It’s so consistently predictable that the cares of the world drown out the voice of God.

Today, I find myself bored with books and shows that don’t further my knowledge of God. I am reading my Bible on Kindle (or books on apologetics or ancient history), and watching shows like The Chosen. I want to keep my radio frequency tuned in, not out.

Connections I never saw before between scripture, history, and current events are coming with an intensity and frequency that I’ve never experienced before in my life.

I also realized that the more scripture I memorize, the easier it is for the Holy Spirit to bring it to my mind at just the right moment. Whereas sometimes I hear God’s voice and I’m not sure if it’s Him or me, when He brings to memory a scripture, I know without a doubt, it’s the Holy Spirit.

So I’ve started memorizing scripture with an app so I can store more of it inside of me than I already have. It’s funny, my childhood VBS and Sunday School days have imprinted lots of typical popular verses, and it’s much harder to learn now at 44 then at 7 or 8, but I’m going to try.

If you’re like me, from a Pentecostal background and disillusioned by some of the over emotional spiritual hype, don’t dismay.

God will and can use your mind and intellect to reveal Himself.

• Dig into Judaism. The Hebrew people. The Covenant. God is NOT done with them, and He is faithful to His word.

• Follow Jesus. Read His words every single day, from both Him & the apostles.

• Let the Holy Spirit speak to you through all of it.

• Spend time with animals and nature. Watch how the world works, even when humans aren’t involved.

• Write down your dreams.

• Memorize scripture until you can repeat it easily.

• Start with one habit of prayer and reading, and then expand it until you’re doing it three times a day (or more). Watch the frequency of your radio change.

Remember, the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

That doesn’t mean you should hate your flesh. Just accept it, acknowledge it, and build a life with God that keeps that in mind.

God is not hiding. He is whispering through the rustle of trees, the structure of covenants, the words of Jesus, the pages of scripture, and the stirrings of the Spirit. He reveals Himself to those who seek… not perfectly, but persistently.

He will reveal Himself. ❤️