Lessons from below

Can you imagine being stuck in a place for 69 days? Not knowing when you were going to be freed? Not knowing if the technology would work in time? Can you imagine having to depend on strangers for your every breath? Imagine being in this dungeon with your co-workers? You may or may not even like them. Of course, this is a small portion of the story of the miners in Chile.

Time line of the callapse (with thoughts to ponder):

• August 5th- mine collapse
• August 8th - works start digging holes trying to find the miners
• Imagine being in such a dark place in your life people don't even know how to reach you.
• August 22nd - rescue workers hear tapping below
• Over 2 weeks after the mine collapsed, the miners hear their first signs of rescue. Would you have given up? Would you have even been listening for the sign of life?
• August 23rd - workers send down food. Miners are told it could be months before they are brought up.
• How do you respond when you are in a dark place and your earliest breakthrough is months away? How do you decide on who is going to eat? How do you keep smiling and having faith when there is nothing between you and the rock? What happens when you realize your hardplace is the rock?
• September 17th - the drill reaches the miners
• Can you be still knowing God is making a way for you? Can you trust God when you can't see His method of escape? What if you are the one making the rescue? How do you keep your hope and faith alive knowing there are 33 people and thousands of family members depending on you? How do you continue the slow pace that you know works and not cut corners to speed up the process? Can you keep working for someone elses deliverance even when you are tired, hungry, hurting, and seeing no results?
• October 9th - the escape shaft is complete
• What happens when you finally see your means of escape but realize there is still work to do? What happens when you can see, smell, and hear the voices of life but yet, they are still so far away?
• October 12-13th - miners are brought to safety
• What do you say to people who have spent millions for you to survive? What do you say to the one responsible for your captivity? Can you forgive? Do you hold a evil thoughts? What do you say to your family who have stopped their lives awaiting your return from below?
• October 13th - the rescue workers are brought to safety
• How does it feel knowing all the work you've done to help someone else live will bring them glory, but people may never know your name? What demeanor must you have when you arrive back to life above ground and the flags are no longer waving welcoming you?

The answers to these questions reveal the good, bad, and ugly of who we are. But overall, what is the lesson? How do we apply a situation that happened across the world to our personal situation?

LESSONS:

• Never give up on yourself.
• Never give up on God.
• When darkness is surrounding you, trust God for your deliverance.
• When you escape your bondage, leave bitterness, regret, and blame behind.
• When you are helping someone else try to find their way back to light and life, be patient.
• When one method of escape doesn't work, don't lose heart, try another method.
• It's okay for people to never know your name. God knows your name and your heart.
• Share the lessons of your experience with others. What you know may help another avoid a collapse in their life.

BIGGEST LESSON: Your bondage doesn't have to be a collapsed mine. It can be a collapsed job, relationship, loan, health, or even decision making. DIG YOUR WAY BACK TO THE LIGHT!