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:
Barb Henry e-mailed that she and her husband, Marv, would be in the Chicago area and wondered if would we have time to get together. The Henry’s have been good friends of our ministry for decades, and we are always eager to become better acquainted with the friends we’ve met through the years or with the faithful donors who somehow keep what has become a more quiet ministry now that we are out of the public eye.
We were home most of June, so it was easy to find some dates: “Our guest room is open. You are more than welcome to spend time with us.”
I have learned through the years of keeping open house that the people who become guests in our home often bring gifts to our lives that more than make up for cleaning the guest room, for changing sheets and preparing food, serving meals and giving the classic Mainses’ tour around the city.
This visit was no different than so many before: David and I felt renewed by our friends’ love of the Lord, by Barb’s obvious study and integration of Scripture in her life, by the couple’s honest struggle to make faith an adventurous journey. Our schedule for that week was relatively moderate—we weren’t recovering from jet lag or getting ready to travel across the country—so I was able to relax and just enjoy preparing cold canary melon soup, vichyssoises soup, summer salads, giant breakfast bran and raisin muffins, salmon mousse. Everything seemed so easy … but now that the Henry’s are gone, I am wondering if certain guests bring a kind of harmony and blessing to a home when they come. Maybe it is not I who provide this ease by my attitude or by my practice of the spiritual gift of hospitality; maybe it is some of my friends whom grace seems to follow wherever they go.
The Henrys used the phrase “it’s out of our comfort zone” at least a couple dozen times. They are pushing themselves to interact with people who are antagonistic toward faith, who are non-churched neighbors, or who they meet in the casual encounters of life. In appropriately sensitive ways, they introduce topics of faith, challenging others to ask themselves hard questions. The Henrys seem to be people who continually remind themselves of the powerful presence of witness.
I kept thinking that I should spend more time in my Bible so that I could quote it chapter and verse like Barb. I kept thinking that I am much too casual about “letting the Lord open up conversations” when maybe the Lord has made the opportunity and I’m just not pushing myself out of my comfort zone.
When we were leading the Chapel of the Air radio ministry, a homemade piece of stitchery was framed and given to us by the staff. It hangs in the downstairs hall and reads, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2).
Angels, I am sure, come in all shapes and sizes (and I am not in the habit of going around with an angel-watch mentality), but I am certain that one of the ways we identify that we have encountered something angelic is when after they are gone, we hear ourselves saying to one another, “Well, that was a lovely time, wasn’t it?”
At any rate, I am writing the Henry’s a thank-you note for having visited our home. In it I truly and genuinely say, “Come again.”
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.
