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 every day occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:
 
 
 
My four-year-old granddaughter, Eliana Lizette, is taking a karate class at the local West Chicago studio. “Mom,” said my son, her father. “If you are in town, you might want to meet us at 6:00 and see what’s going on.” Since Eliana is being raised to speak bilingually, she is registered in a class conducted in Spanish.

So, I spent one delightful hour, sitting beside my son (an immigration counselor, among other things), occupying Eliana’s brother Nehemiah, age two, and laughing at the enchanting incongruities that were narrated by the droll commentary of my humorous son.
Eliana is the only blonde in the class of twelve, as well as being the youngest, but she speaks Spanish better than she speaks English. At this moment, as class commenced she was concerned to notify her instructor, “Maestro…Maestro?” that she had a bandage on her knee—since this was all in Spanish, interpretation was provided by her father.

Although Eliana can play well by herself, she often does float into her own little world, distracted by whatever is going on in her head. So, I was impressed that she stuck with the exercises, followed the command of her instructor (a very patient Mexican karate expert), and partnered pretty well with an adorable Hispanic girl, a little older, who kept repositioning Eliana’s hand in a face-to-face exercise when it kept slipping from the other child’s shoulder. My granddaughter sat to the side when she was supposed to—with the other white-belt kids—and stayed there! And, when she didn’t pay attention, her teacher softly called her name, “Eliana. Eliana…”, drew her back to the activity, instructed her with questions, and reminded her to focus. “Focus, Eliana, focus.”

“Eliana spends a lot of time noticing herself in the mirror,” said her dad. Yep. I could see that was true—my budding 4-year-old narcissist kept running around the circle, jumping the mats, and looking back over her shoulder at the wall-length mirrors. (Oh well, I’ve done the same through my sixty-some years of life—probably runs in the family genes.)

“But notice, Mom,” he continued. “She has stayed with the program for almost a whole hour. When we began, she was all over the room.” Sure enough, my granddaughter, who pretends not to hear you if she doesn’t want to hear you, through the patient coaching of a karate instructor who obviously loved to work with kids, was developing the capacity to listen, to obey, to join in the group activity, and to stay focused. (“Eliana, Eliana…”)

Sitting there, with Nehemiah matching his toddler volume to the shouted commands of the instructor and the students (“Uno—hah! Dos—hah! Tres—hah! Quatro—cinco—seis—hah! Eliana, Eliana…”), I tried to drown out the Hispanic soap opera on the television screen positioned for the benefit of parents waiting on the benches. The commands kept shifting from Spanish to Japanese (it is karate after all), and because I God Hunt all the time, I kept thinking that this is a lot like the way our Heavenly Instructor works with us.

Patiently, patiently, He calls our names. “Karen! Karen!” When we get off track, He breaks His schedule, stands beside us, and shows us how the task is done. Or, He uses a little friend to keep moving our misplaced hand into the correct position.

The Christian journey has its own rhythms, patterns, positions and movements that we must learn if we are going to function well within the framework of creating Christ-like lives. In the chaos of the classroom of life, God’s constant attentive affection can bring us finally into a place of highly practiced attention.

Despite the other kids running around, the soap opera in the corner, our own inability to stay with God’s program, the various languages and ability levels, parents coming and going, the next class waiting on the sidelines, and our grandmother laughing from the adult benches, we can learn the art and discipline of spiritual rigor. We can learn to hear His voice calling our names despite the cacophony of the world in which we live.

“AH-HUH!”

A metaphor, right before my eyes. 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 microfinance 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. The 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.
 
 
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