Week Two: Discover God's Present Involvement in Your Life

Theme 2

To dare to dream again,

discover Gods present

involvement in your life

Introduction to Theme 2

Lord, make me able to see your hand

in my life in everything.

Ulrich Schaffer,

Greater Than Our Hearts

David had been anointed by the prophet Samuel, no

small event in his life. On that occasion, the Spirit of the Lord

came mightily upon this young man. Even so, there would be

years spent as a fugitive fleeing from King Saul before David

finally assumed the role of Israel's king.

When Gods promises don't quickly unfold, some believers

falsely assume he's no longer interested in their lives. David's

perspective was just the opposite. He knew a war was being

fought in the heavenlies, and he trained himself to look for

daily evidences of God's care and protection. These were

recorded in his prayers, or psalms. One example is Psalm 57,

in which David was probably writing about how God cared

for him during his surprise meeting with King Saul as

recounted in 1 Samuel 24:1-15.

Are you on the lookout for ways the Lord regularly involves

himself in your life? Do you write down your God Hunt

sightings? Have you learned to sustain your belief in bigger

dreams because you see Jesus' goodness to you on a daily basis?

This week will help you hone those skills.

WEEK 2

Theme 2: To dare to dream again, discover God's present involvement

in your life.

Read 1 Samuel 24:1-15

The jealous rage of King Saul toward David, Israel's future king, started

smoldering when the people began praising David more than they praised

Saul (1 Samuel 18:7). Saul even attempted to kill David by throwing a

spear at him (19:710).

The barren, rocky, limestone hills of En Gedi to the west of the Dead

Sea afforded safe shelter for David and his men. After dealing with the

threat of a Philistine raid, Saul went to these Crags of the Wild Goats in

the Judean wilderness in search of David. But David and his men hid in

the same sheep cave into which Saul entered to relieve himself.

David felt guilty after cutting off a corner of Sauls robe. In that day, to

touch a person of such authority was considered disrespectful and even

mutinous. David quickly repented and confessed his disrespectful act

(1 Samuel 24:515). As Saul hunted him relentlessly, David searched

daily for the Lord's present involvement in his life.

Apply the Scriptures

1. How did David see God working in his life in this circumstance?

Which of the God Hunt sighting categories does this fit into?

2. Think of a time when God granted you protection, as he did with

David in the cave. Did you think of it as a great coincidence, or did

you notice that God had been involved in your life?

3. In the cave of En Gedi, David and his men read God's intervention

differently. In situations when God could be involved in our lives in

different ways, how can we discern what he is doing? (See Galatians

5:22-23 or 2 Peter 3:9, for instance.)

Theme 2: To dare to dream again, discover God's present involvement

in your life

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SERMON NOTES

Adventure Application 2

Go on a Daily God Hunt

David was a young man when the prophet Samuel anointed him for

future leadership. As the years passed, someone less spiritually mature

might have assumed God wasn't interested in him any longer; David spent

most of his time running for his life. Even so, he wrote about numerous

ways God made his presence known, which kept the dream alive.

Does God ever seem far-removed from you? Most of us would admit

there are days and weeks when we just don't feel his presence. At other

times, its amazing to see how God provides and protects. But if were not

looking, we can miss these sightings or think of them as mere coincidence.

Here are four categories of God Hunt sightings to look for:

1. An obvious answer to prayer. God doesn't always give us exactly what

we want or expect, but he does respond to our requests.

2. Unexpected evidence of God's care. We still get sick and have acci-dents, but God often works miracles of protection, such as the time

you miss that traffic pileup because you forget your wallet and had to

go back for it.

3. Unusual linkage or timing. You might discover that God stirred a person

to pray for you at precisely the moment you were in trouble. These

mini-miracles are more common than you might think.

4. Help to do God's work in the world. You're puzzling over how to

teach your Sunday school class when a friend calls with a tale of woe.

You comfort your friend with insights from your research for the

lesson, and you use your friend's story as the hook for your class.

We often fail to dream because we don't realize how active God is. But if

we see his hand protecting and directing and adjusting and tweaking our

lives, its easier to dream along with him. From now until the end of this

Adventure, watch for a God Hunt sighting every day. These are times when

the Lord works in our daily world and we choose to recognize it to be him.