There are a thousand different ways I could go about answering this question, but for the sake of brevity, I will just say this: we see what you want to see, and we find what you want to find.
When you really seek God with all of your heart, you will find him.
I once had the opportunity to speak to an incredibly kind and intelligent woman around my age about her choice to be an humanist/atheist. She said she read the Bible twice through searching for proof of God's existence and seeing if it actually made sense. Her conclusion was that it didn't and that reading the Bible raises more questions than it does answers. In short, what she read didn't really fit her way of thinking, as she liked to believe in things that were evident. The only things she could trust were things that could be explained through science or rationalization — both of which are good things, I might add. I've come to realize, though, that when searching for God, they cannot be supreme things. This is, after all, God we are talking about. And, as a believer, I would say He's a lot harder to understand than gravity or global warming.
At the time of this conversation, I mainly just listened to understand and tried my best to truly hear her out. Now that I have had some time to think, I have a few things I would like her (or anyone feeling this way) to consider:
1. God says you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Notice it does not say mind, but heart.* And even then if you begin searching with your heart, make sure you are really willing to find God. Again, we find what we want to find.
On that same train of thought, God
says he did not come to heal the well off but the sick.
"On hearing this, Jesus said to them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'" — Mark 2:17
If you go into your search with the mindset that you are well, you aren't going to see how God is providing you the antidote to your sickness you don't believe you have.
2. You have to view the Bible as a child.
"And He said, 'Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.'" — Matthew 18:3
This means sometimes our minds can't understand everything about the world which our omnipotent omnipresent God created — would it be logical to assume we should be able to do otherwise? Even the Bible says in several different variations throughout that, here on Earth, we just aren't going to grasp it all.**
If you cannot humble
yourself in this way, then so be it, but maybe consider that as
the reason you cannot seem to find God — not that there simply isn't one
at all.
Paul even says in 1 Corinthians 1:18 that "the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing," but then continues that it is the power of God to those that are being saved.
Furthermore, if we are talking about an omnipotent, omniscient God, is it logical to believe that we are going to understand his motives for all his decisions? Or that we are going to understand everything about the world we believe He created?
Take the sun, for instance. It is a billion times bigger than the earth and all the planets that orbit around it. All the conditions that support human existence depend on the sun.
On Earth, people see the sun at different times depending on where they are. Depending on where and who you are, you may receive or may not be able to receive sunlight. On one hand, you may experience a cold, dark season, and, after many months, finally get to receive the warmth and light the sunlight provides. On the other, you may live in a tropical climate that allows ample amount of sunlight all year long. But instead of bask in it, you shut yourself up in your house, never allowing yourself to become truly exposed to the sun and the nourishment it offers. Maybe this is simply your choice. But it has to be recognized for what it is — a choice.
As a believer, I can easily relate all of this back to the Son, Jesus, and his relevance to the human condition (that's a topic for another time). But all in all, my only hope for whoever is reading this is just that you will merely consider that your personal search for a higher Power and Purpose could be like one of the two I've mentioned above. Or maybe they could be the exact opposite — there's no way for me to know your unique life story. At any rate, I wholeheartedly believe there is Someone who knows every detail of your story and desires more than anything to be a part of it. Believe it or not, of course, the choice is yours.
"Faith makes a fool of what makes sense. Grace found my heart where logic ends."
For more examples and greater context, see references below.
*Deuteronomy 4:29; Proverbs 8:17, 2:1-6; Acts 17:26-27; Job 11:13-19; James 1:5-7 **Ecclesiastes 1:13-15, 3:11 8:17; Job 11:7-11, Isaiah 40:28
