When God Plays Hard to Get : Part 2

Out of Your Comfort Zone: Is Your God Too Nice?
by R. T. Kendall

(Page 2 of 6)

One of the most stunning lines I have come across is in Psalm 50:12: "If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it." That evening our children were sitting on the floor in front of me watching television, and not being too interested in what they were watching, I found myself reading that verse. I began to feel very uneasy. I wish the Lord would tell me if he were hungry. Then my thoughts traveled to wondering if God wanted me to spend more time with Him than I had been giving Him. If so, would He tell me? The phrase "If I were hungry I would not tell you" troubled me. I couldn't shake it off. I read it again. And again. I began to get the definite feeling that God was telling me He needed and wanted me after all.

The context of this verse in Psalm 50 is that, though the world is His and although He has cattle on a thousand hills, my God is hungry for me. Though He has countless angels beyond millions and billions, not to mention other people all over the world worshipping Him and spending time with Him, He wanted me. I seized the moment, for some reason. I decided to fast the next day. I sought His face as I had not done before. Yet the curious thing was, God was hinting the very opposite of what He was saying in Psalm 50:12.

The unveiling of that verse was part of a process that led me to one of the most unusual teachings I have ever come across in Scripture. I have racked my brain many times over what to call this teaching and I still struggle with the best term or phrase for it. I used to call it "the divine tease" in our School of Theology at Westminster Chapel. By that term I meant God's somewhat playful but deadly serious setup to let us find out what is in our hearts. Essentially, it is when He says or does the very opposite of what He intends for us to perceive. But I have since decided to refer to this startling and profound truth as when God plays hard to get. For He does! You might think this isn't fair. Perhaps not. I still struggle with Jeremiah's words, "O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived" (Jer. 20:7). I don't claim to know all that this means. The theme of this chapter is therefore but the tip of the iceberg of a most extraordinary teaching.

Perhaps the best introduction to this truth is when Jesus was walking to Emmaus with two people who were kept from recognizing who He really was. It was the same day He had been raised from the dead. They came to this village and, when it was time to say good-bye, Jesus "acted as if he were going further."

This was not His intention at all. He fully intended to stay with them a while longer. He had more to show them. But He did not tell them so and they certainly did not know. Jesus "acted" as if He were going farther, and He played the role so well the two men were clearly going to be upset if He did leave them. The truth is, Jesus wanted them to do exactly as they did - to plead with Him to stay with them. They didn't know they were persuading Jesus to do precisely what He planned for them: "They urged him strongly, 'Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.' So he [Jesus] went in to stay with them" (Luke 24:29).

When God plays hard to get, then, He often means the very opposite of what He says. And yet it is only because God wants us to plead with Him when He appears not to care, whether we do or not. This particular aspect of God's unusual way of dealing with us is often in operation when our circumstances suggest it is okay this time to put first other things beside God for the day. If I am so busy, and God knows this, He surely does not expect me to spend time alone with Him praying and reading my Bible. If I am in debt and can't pay my bills, He surely does not expect me to return my tithes to Him. If there are important people who want to see me, He surely would want me to put these people ahead of ordinary souls. If I did not sleep well last night, He understands this and surely would not expect me to try to have my usual quiet time.

Listen to these words from Martin Luther's journal: "I have a very busy day today. I must spend not two hours, but three, in prayer." For most of us facing that situation, we would spend less time in prayer, but to Luther it meant he must spend more time in prayer than ever in order to receive divine help to get more done! The movers and shakers and great saints in church history recognized when God plays hard to get - even if they did not call it that.

Why does God do it? To see what is in our hearts. It is not for Him as He already knows. It is for us. It lets us see the truth about ourselves. The truth of this "side" of God, if I may put it that way, brings out the truth of what we want; it brings our true feelings to the surface. Although they did not have a clue at first He was Jesus, the two people on the road to Emmaus had been captivated by His teaching. When our hearts burn within us it is a wonderful, wonderful sign that God is at work and wants us to seek His face. A burning heart is there not to mock us but to prod us to seek His face.

And what do you suppose motivated them then and would do it now for us? You might say, "If Jesus were here playing hard to get, I would urge Him to stay too, just like those two men. They had Jesus interpreting Scripture for them. If He did that with me, I too would plead with Him to stay around." Quite right, but the men didn't even know it was Jesus. The truth and the application of the Scripture He taught is what set their hearts on fire.

It is a strong hint to us when the truth of the Word of God has this kind of effect. Charles Spurgeon used to say to preachers, "When a text gets a hold of you, chances are you have got a hold of it." It is because God is at work to draw us closer to Himself than ever. It is His way of subtly beckoning to us to seek His face. On that night when I kept reading the words, "If I were hungry I would not tell you," I was gripped and did not know why. It turned out that God was telling me He yearned for me to spend more time with Him. It was a demonstration of God playing hard to get. He hides His face from us, just as He did with Hezekiah: "God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart" (2 Chron. 32:31).

Another time Jesus was watching when the disciples were rowing against the wind and waves on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had gone up into a mountain to pray and from His vantage point He could see the disciples struggling. I am fascinated how Jesus did not immediately go to help them. Instead, he watched them. Would it not have been nice had Jesus left His place on the mountain at once and turned up on the sea to help them? Could He not have interceded for them by asking the Father to stop the wind? But He only watched them.

Copyright © R. T. Kendall 2005

About the Author

Dr. R. T. Kendall served for 25 years as Minister of Westminster Chapel in London and now lives in Florida. From there, he continues his career as a popular Christian preacher and writer. His best-selling books include The Thorn in the Flesh, Total Forgiveness, and The Anointing.