Have you ever gone on a God Hunt? A God Hunt begins when you teach yourself to look for God’s hand at work in the everyday occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:
Just as the spring of 2012 was one of the most beautiful Chicago has ever experienced—a quick burst of warmth that brought everything that blooms to full glory all at once, plenty of rain, plenty of sun so the greening earth also turned luxuriant, then cool but not freezing temperatures that kept every spring thing blooming for what seemed like weeks on end—it feels as though this is going to be a particularly beautiful fall.
The nights are cool, the days are warm but not hot, colorful maples dance in the sunlight, and somehow, in some way, it feels quintessentially fall. If you live somewhere without obvious seasonal changes, you may be wondering,Well, isn’t it that way every autumn?
No … no, it’s not. Last year’s fall was particularly dull. We kept going around wondering when it just would break all out into glory. It was not a year I would have invited friends to come to Chicago and to see the turning of the trees.
Every so often when I’m reading Scripture, the words in my Bible and the paths of my days intersect and there is a perfect match between the divine word and the ordinary world. I wrote this psalm out in my prayer journal—Psalm 65:9-13. My commentary on it was, “Lovely! Perfect harvest scripture.”
“Thou visitest the earth and waterest it,
thou greatly enrichest it;
the river of God is full of water;
thou providest their grain,
for so thou hast prepared it.
Thou waterest its furrows abundantly
setting its ridges,
softening it with slowness
and blessing its growth.
Thou crownest the year with thy bounty,
the tracks of thy chariot drip with fatness.
The pastures of the wilderness drip,
The hills gird themselves with joy,
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.”
Of course, this was the summer of the Great Drought. The Midwest spent weeks suffering from near-100° temperatures. Farmers lost much of their crops. Food prices are rising and this will mean unaccountable suffering for the poor and those on economic margins. For many thousands, this summer was a disaster.
But for a moment, reading these words; for a moment, looking on the shining orange, yellow-golden world around me, my heart cried, Selah. It is and let it be. May we one day always live in the perfectly matched moments of the Almighty.
I spy God!
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Award-winning author Karen Mains has long had an interest in spiritual formation and the obedient Christian walk. She has written about the God Hunt in her book by the same name, The God Hunt: The Delightful Chase and the Wonder of Being Found. A hardback copy can be ordered from Mainstay Ministries for $10.00 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. Contact Karen at info@mainstayministries.org and she will be happy to autograph a copy for you.
Karen continues to write content for her Christian blog, “Thoughts-by-Karen-Mains.” In so doing, she desires to touch the lives of Christian women and men and help them find ways to walk closer with the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, through silent retreats, spiritual teaching, women’s retreats, Christian vacation opportunities, and other ministry activities, Karen helps each Christian woman and man receive vital spiritual food.
Through her Hungry Souls ministry, Karen serves as a spiritual coach to many Christian women and men, and teaches a mentor-writing class. And, through the Global Bag Project, she is working to develop a network of African women who sew exquisite cloth reusable shopping bags, Africa bags. This micro-finance women opportunity helps provide a much-needed sustainable income for struggling African families. For more information on this critically important project, please click here.
For decades, Karen and her husband, David, have served God through religious communications—radio, television, and print publication. They are the co-authors of the Kingdom Tales Trilogy: Tales of the Kingdom, Tales of the Resistance, and Tales of the Restoration. To find many valuable resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries main website, please click here.
Likewise, pastors will find special resources to help them prepare effective, life-transforming Sunday sermons by visiting David Mains’ website by clicking here.
