Then I thought about how angry the advertiser (in this case, Coca-Cola) would be if they ever found out that their billboard was unlit at night because the lights shining on it suddenly shut off.
Then I thought about how angry God is whenever his billboards (namely, Christians) are unseen or shrouded by darkness in this world.
In Matthew 6, Jesus talks about how hypocrites pray and fast in order to be seen by men. However, he urges his followers to take the opposite route by praying behind closed doors and keeping a healthy appearance when they fast.
There are many people (yes, even Christians) who struggle with this idea. They can't help but to put themselves in positions where their good deeds and lives can be seen by the light of the acknowledgment they receive from their fellow man. And if they are not acknowledged for their goodness? Well, as I assume Coca-Cola would be, they get frustrated and angry. For these people, Jesus says "they have received their reward in full."
(Of course, this set of people must include those who, by way of specious humility, garner the attention of others.)
Then there are those rare people (yes, even Christians) who are somehow able to embrace this idea. They genuinely heed Christ's warning in Matthew 6 and turn their faces from the approval of men and instead trust that God acknowledges them and will treat them accordingly.
But now I wonder what God "feels" about this. If God is glorified in and through his saints, then surely he must be "frustrated" and "angry" at the fact that his glory is stifled, being hidden from men, thereby preventing them from being convinced of his reality and holiness and turning their hearts to glorify him as well?
Does God see his unacknowledged, behind-closed-door saints as glorious billboards hidden by darkness and veiled to the eyes of the people on this earth, his creations? If he does, surely there must be some kind of righteous, fist-pounding, nostril-flaring fury that is "felt."
Though I am irreverently attributing human emotions to our Lord that restrict his glory and God-ness, I do so only to try to make a point: that I believe wholeheartedly that our God is burning to see his saints glorified, that he is "impatient" for that day, and that he looks forward to it more than we ever will or could...not only because of the fact that that day will be like floodgates opening up and unleashing infinite, mighty, and august torrents of worship and praise directed solely and wholly at him, but also because his beloved children will finally be lit up and acknowledged by the one whose recognition they have been pining for all their lives, whether they knew it or not.
In a sense, that day will be a wonderful, culminating fulfillment and completion for all parties involved.
There must be no lingering doubt in any Christian that their Father desires anything less than to have his people's righteous deeds and lives recognized by all. Though this fallen world is filled with darkness, blindness, and curtains that will prevent this, there will come a day when all of that is reversed, when God is finally and fully acknowledged by his creation, and when he finally reveals his unveiled acknowledgment of his saints.
One day, the curtains will draw back and the Author will walk onto the stage...
"Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it? Is it that He is not strong enough? Well, Christians think He is going to land in force; we do not know when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely. I do not suppose you and I would have thought much of a Frenchman who waited till the Allies were marching into Germany and then announced he was on our side. God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realise what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else—something it never entered your head to conceive—comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realised it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last for ever. We must take it or leave it." - C.S. Lewis
