The survival of 33 Chilean miners who were trapped over 2000 feet underground for 69 days captivated the world. No human had ever survived that long underground. Their survival depended upon one thing: “being unshakable.”
Anybody can collapse. Anybody can give up. In your greatest moments of “shaking” what do you have on the inside to lean upon until you are rescued?
TRY THESE FOUR KEY SECRETS THAT BROUGHT THOSE MINERS THROUGH AND WILL DELIVER YOU AS WELL:
- Don’t blame GodThe worst possible thing you can do in a “shaking” is to allow a deep anger against God to rise up in you. Job lost his entire fortune and family in one day and yet he refused to shift off his foundation of faith and blame God.“God is for you.” Circumstances, laws of nature, and Satan combine to produce some huge “cave-ins” in our lives. The one constant, however, is that “God loves you and is for you.”
- Find an encouragerWhen airplanes start to shake, it’s good to look over and have a friend beside you. When Frodo, the ring-bearer in Lord of the Rings, felt the ground of Mt. Doom shake under his feet, his best friend, Sam, would always remind him about the “green grass back in the Shire.”Find a friend who is unshakable. Their emotions, their decisions, their friendships, their career, their spirituality have exhibited a “rock solid” perspective. Call them, look them in the eyes, and draw the deep support God intended a true friend at your side to give you.
- Breathe…and singTwo things help your emotions to calm in times of “shaking.” First, take a deep breath, hold it five seconds, and let it out five seconds. Do that for a minute and your body (and soul) will “reset” itself. I often do that several times a day in times of high stress. Second, learn to “sing for stability.” When I sing a familiar psalm, hymn, or spiritual song, the Holy Spirit takes over in my deepest being. Paul and Silas practiced this very thing when they were beaten and in chains at midnight in the Philippian jail.
- “Trust”When everything is shaking, “trust.” The Hebrew word for “trust” is of a baby laying back in the arms of her mother. Sound asleep, she never notices that her mother may be in the middle of a great storm.God is a wonderful Parent. He holds you. He carries you. He fights your battles. Rest in His arms. “Underneath are the everlasting arms.” You are going to make it through this storm because He is holding you.The 33 miners who emerged from that mine requested that 33 Bibles be sent down the “tube” to them 2000 feet below the ground’s surface.One miner said it best: “There were not 33 of us trapped in the underworld. There were 34. God was with us every day, every moment.
Unshakable. Unmoveable. Unstoppable.
Your rescue is on it’s way.
