Mining for Gold

By PaisleyJade - Monday, October 30, 2017



Our local newspaper, The Northern Advocate has a weekly column for the different Pastors and Ministers in Whangarei to write a guest piece (called Perceptions of Faith) and it was my turn last Saturday.  Here's my article... and even as I re-read it I'm so challenged.  May we all become people who are skilled at mining for gold.


Mining is hard work – not that I have any personal experience as a miner.  When I hear the word “mining” I think back to the early images I’ve seen in movies and read about in books.  Images of hard working men come to mind, covered in sweat and grime, risking so much - even their lives, to find something precious that is a much-needed resource or jewel.

A while back at a parent/teacher evening at our school, I received a challenge from one of my children’s teachers.  It was the challenge to look for the gold in my child.  I've thought a lot about this phrase over the last months and have not only pondered searching out the gold in my kids but also in my marriage, my job, my community, my church and my everyday life.

As I said before, it takes effort to mine for treasure – you have to look hard and sometimes you need to search for a while to actually uncover the gems hidden beneath the rubble or behind the hard, cold walls.

It's easy to focus on the negative stuff isn't it?  I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I find it way easier to stand around and point out the dirt and grime, the cold hard walls in the tunnels and the problems and risks ahead, than to make the effort to actually go mining for gold and precious jewels.  It’s so much easier to point out what my kids are doing wrong, their flaws and imperfections... doing the same thing with my husband, my neighbours, my home, my job and the everyday ups and downs of life.  Taking the time and effort to actually look for the gold and precious jewels and even verbalise it and point it out to others is life changing, yet so often I just can’t be bothered.

If something is life changing, surely, we should take notice and make the effort to do it?

Try it... I dare you to find some gold in your kids, your spouse, your job, your house, that annoying person at work.  See if you can verbalise it to yourself and them (obviously your house won't be impacted if you point out it's 'golden' points, but you never know!).

I’m so thankful that God is someone who looks past the dirt and muck in our lives and sees the real us.  He loves us even when we are a mess, and is the God of second chances.  He speaks out the gold in us before it’s even found – I’m so glad He looks beneath our cold and hard surfaces for the treasure hidden beneath.

1 Samuel 16:7b says “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

I want to be someone who is realistic about life, but knows how to focus on the good stuff at the same time.  There are so many treasures hidden in the people around us, in our lives – we just need to roll up our sleeves and start mining for it.


Keep looking for the gold in your life and those around you - and remember to verbalise it to those special little ones around you (including the lanky 6ft ones), because there is plenty of gold sitting right there, you just sometimes have to do a bit of digging to uncover it.


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1 comments

  1. Anonymous11:29 am

    It is evident to me that you are a very deep and laden gold mine and it's a privilege to see our God, the greatest gold miner of all, uncover and utilize all things precious in you. Sister-in-law Sandra.

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