Does God hide His will from us at times?

I think the answer is "yes", if we take a little time to explain the word "hide".  God certainly knows what He wants us to do and reveals much of His will in the Bible.  So, for example, if I want to know God's will about pornography and whether I should feed my mind on it, finding the will of God is relatively easy.  Right?  In the Bible, 2 Timothy 2:22 makes it clear how I am to treat that subject.

But...if I am trying to discern which school I should attend or whether I am to marry or which person I am to marry, that may take a bit longer to discern.  In this process of prayer and reflection, my view is that God wants us to get to know Him while we are trying to discover whether or not He has an opinion about the answer to the question we are considering.

What if all our conversations consisted of a quick question asked and a brief answer given.  That's it.  How much would we really get to know each other if that is all the discussion we experienced.  No, our talks usually include many words, questions, twists, turns, and nuances, don't they?
In the process we get to know the person with whom we are speaking, we begin to understand not only what they are saying but also why they say it.  We might get some insight into the emotion behind their opinions....ranging from no obvious emotion to hysterical, unbridled emotion.

When we come to God to discover His will about an issue important to us, maybe our Heavenly Father (Abba or Daddy) really wants us to stick around awhile and talk and listen and come to know His attitude toward us, toward our willingness to ask Him a question and wait for an answer, and His joyful love for us.  We are children whom He knew before we were made in our mother's womb.  Maybe He'd like for us to know Him and His ways as we get to know His will.

In Psalm 103 we read that God allowed Moses to know His ways but the vast majority only knew God's actions.  Paul wrote in Philippians 3 that his deep desire was to know Jesus in various aspects of His life and to understand not only His positives and power but also Jesus' pain and suffering.

So, the next time you and I have a hard time "knowing the will of God" and begin to believe He is hiding His will from us, maybe we will be a bit more patient with the process and take time to know God's heart and His ways as we seek to understand His will.  He knows even the number of each hair on your head, He understands all about you, and He loves you as much as He loves His own Son Jesus.

He will answer the question when He is ready and when we are ready to receive His answer.  He knows us that well.  Sounds to me like a God worth knowing.  Right?

See those grandchildren in the picture above?  Do you honestly think I would withhold the answer to an honest question from them if the answer would help them?  Of course I wouldn't.  But, I may not answer it right away.  I may wait until I feel they could handle the answer.  Why?  Because I love them.  Our Father loves us even more than I do these kids and their parents and their Grandmommy Carol.  Wow, Abba is awesome!