going deeper with God - March 2014
1 March 2014
The image we ask you to consider this year during our going deeper with God month is that of mining. Our first appointment was in Mount Isa, a mining town, known for its silver, lead and zinc. I wonder what you think about when you think about mining. Perhaps you’ve been underground as a worker or as a tourist. Maybe you’ve visited Sovereign Hill and participated in gold panning. Maybe you’ve gone digging in some gem fields. It could be that the image you have has come from media coverage of mining disasters! Or perhaps you have an image based on tv or movies of what mining is like.
Sandy has walked through old mining tunnels near Broken Hill as well as having gone underground into the working mine in the middle of town. In Mount Isa, we went on one of the last underground tours of the working mine before these tours were stopped in favour of a simulated tourist mining attraction. A couple of years ago, Sandy and her mum visited the Beaconsfield mine and heritage centre.
Mining is a dangerous but valuable activity. In modern days, many of the dangers of the past have been removed or lessened but it still is a dangerous work with many safety requirements. Most mining involves dynamite of some kind.
Going deeper in your relationship with God is also both dangerous and valuable. Dangerous in an exciting way! You don’t know what you are going to discover. You probably don’t know in advance what God will reveal to you about yourself and about Godself. Some parts of your character may require delicate chiseling; other parts might need some dynamite to separate what is precious from the rubble.
One of the standard tourist tricks of going underground is to get everybody to switch off their headlamps in order to experience complete darkness.
When you go deeper in your relationship with God, you will not be asked to plunge into utter darkness. You have with you at all times the Light of the World. God will shine light into your dark places.
Mining involves exploration. There are some highly technological means involved these days for identifying where the streams of metal are. It’s not always the case of striking it lucky. Mining is far more a science than whimsy in the modern world.
In our spiritual mining, we don’t have to rely on striking it lucky. There are tried and true means by which we can approach God. Some methods may be new to you; others may be familiar and comfortable. These are spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines can be categorised as disciplines of abstinence (self denial) and engagement (connecting relationally with God and others.) Disciplines of abstinence include solitude, silence, fasting, sabbath, frugality, chastity, secrecy and sacrifice. Disciplines of engagement include bible reading and study, worship, celebration, service, prayer, fellowship, confession and submission. Each Sunday in March, the teaching at our corps will focus on one or more spiritual disciplines. We have a great lineup of preachers who will guide your exploration of these spiritual disciplines.
While it is true that a physical mine may become exhausted of its precious metals, you can never exhaust your relationship with God. There will always be more of God’s riches to discover. Hallelujah!
One of the striking features observable at Beaconsfield is the “mine out” board that you can see from the heritage centre. One of the most heroic scenes from the rescue in 2006 was when Webb and Russell walked out of the cage and removed their safety tags to indicate they were safe and out of the mine. When you go underground in a mine, you hang your name safety tag on the board that says you are now entering the mine. Everybody above ground knows who is currently underground.
This March, we encourage you to hang your name tag on the board that says “I’m going underground; I’m going deeper in my relationship with God.” Send a witness to the world around you that you are intentionally deepening your encounter with God. At the end of the month we will celebrate together as we breathe anew the air above ground and hang our tags on the safe board to indicate that we have embraced new depths of God and are emerging safe and ready to face the world.
Sandy & Nigel