A friend shared with me this past week about something she does with her children at supper each evening.She asks them: "Where did you find God today?Or, where did God find you?"She started these conversations because she wanted her family to consciously realize how God was truly with them and a part of their lives each and every day.She said to me, "Christians say all the time that God is with us.That he cares about every detail of our lives.But how often do we share those moments with one another?Even the members of our family?"And so, I began to hunt for God.And this is what I found . . .
On November 7, 2003, 20-month old Mackayala slipped out the back door of her family's home in Fullerton, CA and fell into the swimming pool.She was discovered floating face-down in 52 degree water.Paramedics and police rushed to the scene.They performed CPR for 6-7 minutes.One officer said, "It felt like a million years."She was rushed to the hospital, still not breathing, and pronounced dead at 10:06 a.m.Then, at 10:45 a.m., 39 minutes after she had been pronounced dead, her chest had a spasm.Detectives had been photographing her body to complete the police report. They looked at each other in shock.Was she breathing?They ran for a nurse.Mackayala had a pulse!The detective went to the mother, whom he had informed only an hour earlier of her daughter's death, that the unthinkable had occurred.The mother fell to her knees and thanked God.Doctors are baffled by her recovery.The Medical Board of CA is launching an inquiry. All I could think, "It's a miracle!A modern day miracle!"It was like when Jesus raised the widow's son in Luke 7:11-17.The people who witnessed that event were filled with awe and praised God.I prayed that this event would do the same.
I found God reading the newspaper at 8:30 in the morning.
At a Bible Study later that same morning, a woman shared the story of her friend Bryce.Bryce was invited to attend a Christian Conference in Florida.He hesitated to accept the invitation because his wife was nearing the due date for the birth of their first child.But she encouraged him to go, so he did.In the middle of the conference, his wife called to say that she had gone into labor.She was on her way to the hospital.Bryce immediately left the conference and raced to the airport.He booked the next flight back to Phoenix.He was concerned for his wife, and devastated that he could not be by her side during this important life event.He boarded the plane and began the journey home.En route, he began to converse with the passenger next to him.He shared about his wife in labor.This man said to him, "I'm an OBGYN in Phoenix.Who is your wife's doctor?"Bryce told him.The doctor replied, "That's my partner!"He grabbed the telephone on the back of the seat in front of them, punched in a number, and soon Bryce was connected to his wife's delivery room.He got to talk to his wife and encourage her as their child was born! Everyone in the room was crying as we listened to this story.
I found God listening to a celebration shared during a Bible study at 10:00 in the morning.
Later in the day as I checked email messages, I opened an email from a woman who attends our English speaking worship service in La Paz.She told me that Enrique* had gone on a drinking binge, but recovered enough to come to worship on Sunday and ask for prayer and encouragement.She told me that four of them had thrown a surprise birthday party for Jose*, a man who is separated from his wife, struggling with depression, and who only recently stepped inside the doors of a church again.He was totally overwhelmed by their love and care.And then she told me that Carol and Tom* had attended church together.Both have avoided church for years because of hurts experienced in the past.I wanted to jump up and down and praise God!If these hurting, wounded people were feeling "safe" enough to come to our worship, then it was truly an act of God.
I found God through an email I read at 3:00 in the afternoon.
Do you hunt for God on a daily basis?I encourage you to try it.Go on a God Hunt for even one day.I think you'll be overwhelmed, humbled, and amazed by what you find.
(*Names have been changed.)