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:
On June 4th, David and I were called home from California with word that our son, Jeremy, age 41, was desperately ill. We arrived to quickly discover that he was suffering from an aggressive form of blood cancer, mantle cell lymphoma.
It has been almost two months since that diagnosis, and Jeremy has been out of the hospital only three days since that June onset. We have gone through two very aggressive rounds of chemotherapy. He has had a small reservoir inserted into his skull, a PIC line in his chest, and has to take hundreds of pills daily. He’s lost his hair, lost his appetite, lost his strength, his summer plans, some part of his future, had to understand that he probably won’t be able to work three jobs this year, and consequently, has lost his income. He also has lost his facial expression and the ability to pronounce six important consonants—B, D, F, M, P, V and W. Jeremy is suffering from “bilateral facial droop,” the same effect that might be experienced by stroke victims.
The question, of course, is: Where is God in all of this?
Indeed, I have been writing out my God Hunt sightings, evidences of His involvement and intervention in my daily life, for well over a year; that year and a half mostly a happy time.
Apart from just pure exhaustion wiping us out, is it possible to distinguish God’s presence when we are staring death in the face, when waves of shock and awe overwhelm us, when much of our life is spent on “hospital time” with resulting fatigue and we can’t find the energy to get back to our friends and family who are concerned and want to help.
So the blogs from this point in the year going forward will be concerned with finding His loving interventions in the journey through the shadows of the valley of death.
I opened my Bible the other day and my eyes fell on a random passage from Isaiah, chapter 28, verses 23-26:
“Give ear and hear my voice,
harken and hear my speech.
Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
When he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter dill,
sow cumin, and put wheat in rows
and barley in its proper place and spelt as the border?
For he is instructed aright, his God teaches him.”
In some strange way, this reminded me that God gives wisdom even to the common peasant. Certainly, he can impart wisdom to educated medical specialists dealing with a rare form of lymphoma in the blood of my son. I began to consider this: After all is said and done, isn’t it really the One who made the body the One who was directing Jeremy’s medical team?
Spending weeks in a hospital convinces us of how much modern medical specialists know (and how much they don’t know). We rest in the perfect instructions of the One who knows all.
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.