A common atheist argument is that if God really wanted them to believe, He'd prove Himself. He knows what it would take to convince the atheist to accept Him, and yet He does not always offer that. Evidently, He does sometimes, as many atheists do become Christians, but the most stubborn atheists insist that no, only if God does X Y or Z will they believe, and if it's really important to Him, He'll do it.
But here's the thing: Faith in God is not a right. It is a privilege. Now, I absolutely do not mean that as in it is legitimate for one person to get in between God and another person. No one, not even the government, has the right to stop you from becoming a Christian, or from acting upon your faith once you have it. But God Himself does not owe an atheist any evidence that He exists.
This fact alone makes it astounding that God does give evidence that He exists. He could quite safely become so aloof that the world goes black because we nuke ourselves. But He doesn't. He provides ample evidence, from the general revelation of nature to the special revelation of miracles. That is already far more than any human being deserves.
But the knowledge of God is just one privilege He affords us. Even demons know God exists, and yet He does not grant them the hope that it offers. Satan and his angels are all doomed for Hell. But what about you, my atheist readers? Will you follow them?
In the eyes of the Lord, all sin is worthy of death. If you go through just the 10 commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), you will see that you have broken several of them. In fact, Biblically speaking, you have broken them all. Even if you have never physically killed anyone, the Bible tells us that hatred is akin to murder. Have you ever hated anyone? And so when you die, the Lord will judge you by His laws. That's the only thing God does owe you, but of course it's also the one thing you don't want Him to owe you. No one wants to go to Hell.
But here is the gift of God: You don't have to. God has made provision for your sins in the person of His Son Jesus. Through Jesus' death, your sins have already been paid for, and through Jesus' resurrection, your relationship with God can be restored as if you had lived a perfect life. God does not owe you that, but it is available for you to claim. How do you claim it? By coming to Him in faith. By acknowledging that He not only exists, but that you have offended Him, and are not worthy of Him. But Jesus is able to make you worthy (Colossians 1:21-22; Jude 1:24) by trading the sin that bought you death (Romans 6:23) with His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).
That's when the privilege becomes a right (John 1:12). God is a man of His word, which means when He promises you something, you can take that to the bank, and He has promised to save those who call on His name (Acts 2:21).
God owes no one salvation. Demanding evidence of God's existence is like a hermit demanding a bank pay him $1 million while he owes them $2 million. But what God owes you and what God wants to give you are two totally different things. God is offering you the chance to have your debt completely cleared, and instead He will pay you. Rather than punishing you for your sins and forgetting your good deeds, He can reward your good deeds and forget your sins. He loses nothing if you don't accept this, but you lose everything. And so really, it's not a case of if God wants you to believe, He should force you to believe, but that if you want to receive the benefits of believing, you should follow the evidence that, in His unsearchable mercy, He has graciously decided to give you.
My atheist friends, there will come a day when God will prove His existence to you. But you do not want to wait for that day. You want that day to be postponed for as long as possible, because if that day comes when you are not ready for it, you've missed your deadline. Believing in God will be fruitless to you then, because while He loses nothing in condemning you, you lose everything in being condemned. But if you're reading this, you're still alive. You're still in His grace period. You have the opportunity to be reconciled to Him, and that will prepare you for meeting Him.
So why wait? Why wait for a heart attack to strike you down before you've finished reading this post? Why wait for a bus to knock you down on your way to work tomorrow? Why wait for some lunatic to cut you down so he can have the paper in your wallet? Even if we assume you live until the day after your 100th birthday, that's still a whopping 100 more years and a day than God owes you, and still only 100 years and a day for you to come to Him.
And so that's your choice. Demand 100% proof of God's existence, and receive it when it's too late, or accept the 99% certainty He offers in this life and not be disappointed. I don't think it needs to be pointed out which option I've chosen, and I can tell you from experience that I have yet to regret it. The other option just isn't worth the regret it would bring.