the tindog coffeehouse

Last week the world celebrated as the 33 Chilean miners who had been trapped in a collapsed mine for 69 days were finally rescued. But even while still trapped 2,000 feet underground, they were not alone. “There are actually 34 of us,” one of them wrote, “because God has never left us down here.”

We’ve all been trapped in mines at some point in our lives. Probably not literally, but certainly figuratively. Maybe it was financial, maybe emotional or physical or spiritual. Maybe you lost your job, maybe even your house. Maybe you lost a loved one or your marriage fell apart. Just yesterday a six-year-old girl was struck and killed by a car on her way to school as her mother watched. As a parent, I can’t even imagine the overwhelming guilt that mother will probably carry with her the rest of her life.

I think back over the darkest times of my life, the times when I felt trapped and alone without any hope for rescue. I can now look back and see that every time, God was there. Even when I didn’t want Him to be.

It’s weird to think that we wouldn’t want God to be with us during the worst times of our lives, but it happens. I’ve kicked God out numerous times, sometimes because I was angry with Him, sometimes because I was angry with myself, and sometimes because I simply didn’t want to be rescued. But God has never once abandoned me, and He never will.

I’ve been through hard times in my life, and I know for a fact I will again. And most likely you will, too. Thankfully, though, we don’t have to go through it alone.

O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!

I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

– Psalm 139:1-12

Previously:
The ransom has been paid
It was all because of love
Rescued