Pastor's Pen
by Buzz Dahlen
Some how, last week, I got on the subject of gold.  It’s not something I think about that often, because I possess very little of it.  Anyway, I began to wonder, “How is gold formed?”  I looked it up on the Internet and found out two things.  First, no one really knows for sure how gold is formed.  There are many theories, but no one knows.  What we do know is that gold is an element that has always been around and that there are two places where you find it, in the ground and in the water.   We also know that there is a limited amount of it and so that makes it very valuable.  As a matter of fact, other then it is very shinny; the fact that it is limited supply is the only thing that has determined its value.    Now I must say that we have found a number of uses, other then it being shinny, over the years which has increased it’s demand, but the value basically remains because of it’s limited availability.
Peter writes this in his first letter:  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  1 Peter 1:3-7
So maybe you have wondered why you had to go through that tough time. Maybe you didn’t understand why circumstances were the way that they were and life was harder than you had hoped it would be.  Perhaps God was doing a little mining of His own.  Maybe God was letting your “shinny side” come out more.  God was exposing your faith—of greater worth than gold.  Sometimes it takes drastic measures in order to mine gold.  Sometimes they have to use high water pressure.  Sometimes they use some sort of acid.  No matter what is used, other stuff has to be removed to reveal the gold.  Sometimes it is the patient panning process, where you swirl and swirl, over and over again until all that is left is the flecks of gold.
God is going to reveal out faith.  He is going to do whatever it takes to get our faith up to the surface.  God is a miner of sorts as He mines our lives.  He knows that there is gold there and he relentlessly pursues it in our lives. And when finally brings that gold out of us, refines it, which is a whole other story.
Gold is not formed it is just there.  It is everywhere.  It is an element, which has been there since the creation of the world.  Somehow, it collects and fills the cracks and crevices of the earth’s crust and is eventually mined. 
When God created mankind, one of the elements present was faith.  When we give our lives to Christ that faith begins to collect and fill the cracks and crevices of our life.  Why not consider turning the claim for your mine over to the Lord and allow him to start mining that faith, which is of greater worth than gold.  
Don’t forget, once the gold is minded it still has to be refined.  Like I said, that a whole other process so maybe we’ll talk about that in the future.  Have a great week!

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