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:
So what do you do with piles of refuse, neatly organized from a deconstruction project but now sitting smack in the driveway so the car can’t be parked in the garage?
I called Waste Management, where a young woman informed me that we could put out garbage sacks no larger than ones that held 32 gallons with some of the refuse. David and I had taken a good month to dispose of waterlogged carpeting from a huge storm that swamped the drainage systems in our basement. So we filled three 32-gallon sized black garbage bags, looked at the ugly remaining piles and thought to ourselves, This is going to take awhile.
One morning, however, in between hospital visits, I woke up thinking about our friend Tim Ayers.
He and his wife, Donna, hold a huge bonfire at the end of the summer, and they invite all their neighbors and friends. In fact, Tim and his two high-school sons had cleared out another pile of last year’s storm refuse earlier in the summer. Tim had a truck and two strapping offspring. Maybe he would want the wood to our tear down. This morning, when I woke, all the discarded wood (which had been nicely sawed into manageable portions) was gone. David had called and said, “If you want it, just take it.” And they did.
With some careful calculations, we figured we could sledge hammer the moldering particle panels into smaller sections, roll the screen into a garbage-sized panels, keep filling three or four 32 gallon garbage bags. “Probably,” I announced, “by the end of September we’ll be rid of these piles.”
“Oh, no,” said David, he of the confident character and the past roller of sodden carpeting. “We’ll get rid of it all by the end of August.”
So I thank the Lord this morning for friends who have pickup trucks, strapping sons and yearly end-of-summer bonfires.
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.