Quote from Forum Archives on March 10, 2003, 10:52 am

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

DARING TO DREAM AGAIN #3/9
ORDINARY MIRACLES
March 9, 2003

Text: 1 Samuel 24:1-15

A couple of years ago, our Spiritual Adventure resources suggested
connecting with our secular friends through movies. Watching a movie that
might have some type of spiritual tie-in, and being able to bring up that
connection in discussion as a way of pointing toward a Christian truth,
was the purpose of introducing this idea to us. But, like I shared back
then, that doesn’t work too well for me because I don’t see first run
movies in the theater too frequently. I usually don’t even see the video
versions very quickly after they come out. So I am always behind the
times for this outreach tool to be useful. By the time I watch a film and
am ready to discuss it, the rest of the world has moved on to something
new.

Such is the case with the movie Signs starring Mel Gibson. Joe wanted to
watch it with us when he was last home, so we did. I discovered in that
movie a spiritual message that could be a topic for discussion. I also
think it goes along with today’s Spiritual Adventure theme: “discover
God’s present involvement in your life.”

Mel Gibson plays a disillusioned clergy whose wife was killed in a freak
accident about six months prior. During an evening walk, a veterinarian
in the community struck her, pinning her between his vehicle and a tree.
During the course of the movie, the audience learns that he had not been
tired until just that moment when he apparently drifted to sleep for just
a moment. Gibson was called to the scene where he had a chance for some
last words with his wife. Her final words included a strange instruction:
she told her husband to tell his brother, who had been a minor league
baseball player, to “swing away.”

As a result of this accident, Gibson expresses anger and disillusion with
God. But even this is brought into question as signs of outer space
aliens begin to appear at his farm and around the world. Some saw the
events as “signs” from God or some other being, but Gibson tried to view
them as just random occurrences in which humans did the best they could.
By the end of the movie, though, the audience discovers that everything
in Gibson’s life, even his wife’s strange last words to him, connected
with saving his son’s life from an alien abductor. His brother did “swing
away” as he beat off the alien with a trophy bat he had on the wall; the
water glasses that Gibson’s daughter left sitting around the house
spilled on the alien, which was harmful and fatal to it; even the son’s
asthma played a part as he was having an asthma attack and could not
breathe the alien’s poison gas that was sprayed into his face. Sorry if I
ruined it for anybody, but the point is that everything that Gibson
experienced - which he thought was random - had a purpose. In the end, he
renewed his faith in God.

Of course, fiction movies and literature are written to serve an author’s
purpose. But stories from real life indicate that miracles in ordinary
circumstances are just as real. I recall the introduction to a secular
book on miracles from several years ago. A man was out for an evening
walk and felt drawn, for some reason, to turn down a street he normally
didn’t travel. He actually fought the urge for awhile, thinking he should
return home instead of taking another route. But he turned aside and took
this street anyway. As he walked, he heard a disturbance from behind some
nearby shrubs or woods, and heard a cry for help. Again he hesitated, not
wanting to get involved. He might be getting himself in a dangerous
situation. Still, he headed in that direction, calling out. Still not
able to see anything, he heard the commotion stop and someone running
away. Pausing, he asked if anyone was there and if everything was all
right. He couldn’t believe what he heard when a voice cried out from
where he could not see, “Daddy?” His interference had stopped an assault
on his own daughter. (I do not remember the title or publisher of the
book that this story is from)

While stories of obvious, amazing miracles are given to us in the Bible,
so are stories of ordinary miracles. At least, that is how they would
have been seen by those experiencing them in their day. They appeared to
be just ordinary events and coincidences, but they later turned out to be
the hand of God at work.

The life of David was filled with these kinds of experiences. When David
was quite young, David received the God-given dream of being the next
King of Israel. Remarkably, though David experienced numerous obstacles,
he never gave up on his God-given dream. God’s present involvement
enabled him to hold on to the larger dream.

Although young David served King Saul faithfully, Saul developed an
intense jealousy toward David’s increasing popularity. Saul became so
insanely jealous that he attempted to kill David. When David fled, Saul
set out in pursuit of him.

In the midst of running from Saul, it would have been easy for David to
forget his God-given dream of being king. After all, who has time to
dream when you’ve got to run from someone trying to kill you? In similar
ways, we can lose our dreams: “Who’s got time to pursue God’s dream when
we’ve got to pay the bills?” “I just lost my job; what do God’s dreams
mean now?” “How can we focus on God’s dream when we’re having family
conflicts?” It’s so easy for us to lose sight of God’s long-term dreams
when we’re wrestling the alligators now!

One of the ways we can keep God’s dreams in focus is to see God’s present
involvement in our lives, particularly in the small ways. Sometimes we’re
so busy looking for God in the “big deal” that we miss him in the
ordinary. Sometimes we are so busy trying to see God in the spotlights
that we miss him in the footlights. We’re looking for God in the
sensational; we miss him in the everyday.

Our Spiritual Adventure journals provide an exercise we can use to
practice seeing God every day. It is called a daily “God hunt.”
Christians on a Spiritual Adventure are encouraged to try to “sight” God
each day. In other words, where do we recognize God’s involvement in our
life? Some indications suggested in our resources are: an obvious answer
to prayer; unexpected evidence of God’s care; unusual linkage or timing -
what we sometimes refer to as coincidence; or help from God to do His
work in the world. The exercise is to keep a journal of at least one “God
sighting” a day. One result of this exercise can be to recognize God
leading us step by step in the larger dream He has given us. In other
words, can prevent losing the big picture by not failing to recognize the
smaller pieces that fit together to keep the dreams alive.

This is why we are looking at this part of David’s experience this
morning. He is teaching us about “God hunts” and “God sightings.” David
experienced an unusual linkage and timing. King Saul and his men were
chasing David. The cave that Saul went into just “happened” to be the
same cave where David and his men were hiding. This unusual linkage or
timing is David’s “God hunt” sighting. Two benefits of recognizing God’s
present involvement in our lives emerge from this Scripture.

First, recognizing God’s present involvement helps keep God-given dreams
alive. David has been anointed king of Israel - he knows he has been told
that he is going to be king - but David is on the run. He is vastly
outnumbered. Saul takes 3,000 of his best men to track down little David
and his small band of 600 men. David is outnumbered 5 to 1. Not very good
odds if David and his men are caught someplace they can’t get escape.

But an odd thing happens. Although he does not realize it, Saul places
himself at David’s mercy. David’s men urge him to slay his pursuer. David
chooses a different approach. He only cuts off the corner of his cloak.
That may seem like a small thing, but through this event David is
reminded that God is in control of his life and has all sorts of ways to
weave the course of events in David’s favor. Someone could look at this
event and say it is “coincidence.” However, I’m always amazed that when
God is involved, coincidences seem to happen quite frequently.

David’s men thought this was David’s opportunity to “strike & kill Saul.”
Instead, David used this incident as evidence that it was not his intent
to harm King Saul. David wanted Saul to know that he was seeking Saul’s
welfare. This is one of those events in David’s life that reminded him of
God’s faithfulness. Turn to Psalm 57. The superscription of Psalm 57
reads, “When David had fled from Saul into the cave.” It is a psalm
identified with this very incident.

(READ Psalm 57)

The encounter in the cave reminded David that God was still interested in
him. When we know God is working in our life, it reminds us that God has
larger plans for us. Making regular “God hunt” sightings helps us realize
God’s present involvement in our life and will motivate us to pursue
God’s dreams for our life.

Second, recognizing God’s present involvement helps us pursue God-given
dreams with integrity. When people of faith trust that the Lord is in
control of their lives, they no longer have to feel like everything is up
to them. While they take responsibility for their lives and do what is
required, they don’t overstep the line of integrity. Failing to recognize
God’s present involvement can sometimes fill us with a sense of
impatience that leads us to pursue God-given dreams by human
manipulation.

This even happened to people in Scripture. God promised Abraham that
Abraham would be the father of many nations. But Abraham and Sarah were
getting along in years, and Abraham sensed that time was running out. So
Abraham fathered a child with Sarah’s servant Hagar. He sought to
expedite the process and ensure that God‘s promise would be fulfilled. A
son, Ishmael, was born to Hagar, but Abraham created a mess in the
process. We can pursue the right dreams by the wrong means. We can try to
make God’s dreams happen, not through God’s power but by our own
manipulation. We can cross the line and compromise our integrity. If we
think we’re all on our own in making God’s dreams come true, we will
likely operate that way. But if we know God is presently involved in our
life, we are more likely to trust God. We will be people who pursue God’s
dreams with integrity.

God promised David that he would be king. It would have been easy for
David to help that dream along by killing Saul when he had the
opportunity. But David knew he was to seek to fulfill God-given dreams in
ways that were pleasing to God. Trusting in God releases us from
manipulation and from compromising our integrity. That’s why seeing God’s
present involvement in our lives helps us to maintain integrity and know
we’re not on our own in pursuing God’s dreams.

Whether you are following the Spiritual Adventure journal or not, be
intentional about looking for God’s present involvement in your life. Go
on a “God hunt.” Most of us learn to see what we’ve been trained to look
for! Ever notice how objects that you rarely noticed before become
commonplace once you begin looking for them? Before one of our moves,
Lois and I contemplated getting one of those car top carriers. Some
friends had used one. So while we were deciding if it would be useful, we
began noticing how common they are. I didn’t particularly notice them
before, but when I was thinking about them, it was easy to find them. We
take note of what we are trained to see.

That same principle holds true for our relationship with God. Why do some
people see God at work in their lives, while others don’t? It is because
we see what we are trained to see. Are you looking for God’s present
involvement in your life? Remember the four categories of the “God hunt:”
answers to prayer, evidences of God’s care, unusual linkage or timing,
help to do God’s work in the world.

Follow up the “sighting” by recording God’s present involvement in your
life. As we record sightings of God, we will be encouraged to dream
bigger dreams. Keeping a journal enables us to keep in front of us the
evidence of God’s present involvement. David wrote down one of his “God
hunt” sightings: Psalm 57. In the bulletin, along with the daily Bible
studies, there are places for you to record evidences of God’s present
involvement in your life. Look for the four categories of “God hunt”
sightings. Share your sightings with others in your Sunday school
classes, Bible studies, and other fellowships. Your stories will help you
and others seek to keep God’s dream for your life alive.

We sometimes imagine how nice life would be if things work out like some
of the movies or stories. For Mel Gibson, the presence of God became
overtly evident as events unfolded. It doesn’t always work out quite as
clearly in real life. There are times we may never know completely how
the diverse events in our lives link up with God’s plans. This is why
looking for God and discovering ordinary miracles can be so important.
Not because we’ll discover all the answers we seek, but because we’ll
discover the presence of God in our lives whether we find answers or not.

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN

________________________________________________________________
Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today
Only $9.95 per month!
Visit www.juno.com