Exodus 32:1-4 ASV, Exodus 32:7 ASV and Exodus 32:19-20 ASV

I love it when God brings something to my attention...then places a book in my hand that just so happens to attack the issue in which he has brought to my attention. And then refuses to give me straight answers to the issues in which I am struggling with so that I must search out the answers myself, thusly creating a stronger desire to know and understand Him.

Quote:
I think my desire to believe in a god other than Jesus had mostly to do with boredom. I wanted something new. I wanted something fresh to think about, to believe, to twiddle around in my mind. I understand the plight of the children of Israel, to be honest. Moses goes off to talk to God, he doesn’t come back for a while, and so the people demand a god they can see and touch—a god they can worship with the absolute certainty it exists. So they build a golden cow (odd choice, but to each his own). Moses comes back from talking with God and finds the children of Israel worshiping a false god, so he goes postal. I imagined myself as the children of Israel when Moses comes down off of the mountain.
“What are you doing, Don?” Moses asks.
“Worshiping a golden cow.”
“Why? Why would you reject the one true God?”
“Because I don’t get to see Him or talk to Him. I am not even certain that He exists.”
“Are you on crack, Don? Weren’t you there when God parted the Red Sea? Weren’t you there when God fed us from the ground, made water from a rock, led us with a cloud?” Moses screams.
“Calm down, Mosey. Listen, man, you always go up and talk to God and come back with a sunburn, and you have God hover around your tent in a cloud, and you have God turn your staff into a snake, and we get nothing. Nothing! It’s not like we have this personal communication going with God, you know, Moses. We are just sheep out here in the desert, and honestly, we were better off as slaves to the Egyptians. That is where your God brought us. We need a god too. We need a god to worship. We need a god to touch and feel and interact with in a very personal way. So I made a cow. You can also wear it as a necklace.”
“Don,” Moses responds, “before I put you to death and send you home to the one true God, I want you to understand something. I want you to understand that God has never been nor ever will be invented. He is not a product of any sort of imagination. He does not obey trends. And God led us out of Egypt because you people cried out to Him. He was answering your prayers because He is a God of compassion. He could have left you to Satan. Don’t complain about the way God answers your prayers. You are still living on earth that is run by the devil. God has promised us a new land, and we will get there. Your problem is not that God is not fulfilling, your problem is that you are spoiled.”
-Don Miller “Blue like Jazz”

I can relate so well to the idea that God seems so far away. That it’s as if he’s not really interacting in my life. I think Don goes on to make a very good point…
“I suppose what I wanted back then is what every Christian wants, whether they understand themselves or not. What I wanted was God. I wanted tangible interaction. But even more than that, to be honest, I wanted to know who I was. I felt like a robot or an insect or a mysterious blob floating around in the universe. I believed if I could contact God, He would be able to explain who and why I was.”

I’m still struggling through this. There’s a lot to think about, and obviously someone can’t wake up one morning and realize that God is or is not here in the tangible sense, nor accept that fact with good grace. Human selfishness makes that difficult.
I agree with Don when he says that we’re spoiled by God. He does so much for us that we tend to expect more than what He has planned in His will for us. By Him so graciously doing us a favor here or there, we tend to want to take advantage of God, and ask for the easy way out, when God really wants us to go through some trials to grow, and mature through life.
I think this is still a very broad subject matter, and defiantly needs some more research on my part, and lots of prayer time. Feeling that God is too far away to be an intimate part of your life can pose to be a real problem when trying to live a life filled with Him, and His Spirit as you try to do His will, and live for Him.