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:
There are four categories where we train people to look for God in their everyday lives. Of course, the capacities of an infinite God to interact with finite humanity are limitless. These four categories, however, are a helpful place for people to begin. They are:
- Any obvious answer to prayer
- Any unexpected evidence of His care
- Any help to do God’s work in the world
- Any unusual linkage or timing
A few illustrations from my prayer journal may be helpful. Although I can go back through 30 years of recorded God Hunt sightings, these samples are taken from the last month of my journal to make the point that having practiced this game/discipline for so long, I never—never—go through a day without finding ways God has intervened in my life.
Any obvious answer to prayer. A genetic high-cholesterol level is something I’ve inherited from my lineage. My parents had high counts (when cholesterol was just beginning to be measured), as do my brother and sister. I have not been particularly careful about diet or exercise, but my brother is a dedicated runner, and in addition, he is healthily cautious about what he eats. Our levels are almost twin to each other. This is the sentence of genetically inherited high cholesterol. The counts can’t be controlled through exercise or by a change in diet. (Craig and I illustrate a case in point.)
Although I kept telling myself I needed to take this condition seriously, and I had been praying about the problem, it was my daughter who brought me to full attention. “Mother, you’re a walking heart attack waiting to happen!” she said, not too delicately. (My “bad” cholesterol count was 329, to be exact.)
At this time, a former employee contacted my husband, David, with news of a nutritional supplement that had almost miraculously reduced her symptoms from a complexity of distresses: fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and a host of other disabling conditions. I immediately was placed on the product—a high-soy, high-fiber cocktail of nutrients, scientifically combined, shaken with water or juice and consumed three times a day. In five months my cholesterol count had dropped by 100 points.
I would most certainly call this an obvious answer to prayer.
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.
