I recently watched a documentary on gold miners in early California. I was astonished how incredibly hard their lives were, often with little reward of a nugget found. I’m sure what kept them going was the possibility of striking it rich.

If I had been alive at that time, I’m sure I would not have joined the Gold Rush … I’m too much of a realist/pessimist. I was programmed as a child to look for worst-case scenarios and to avoid them at all costs. Over the years, however, I’ve worked to reprogram this by giving thanks, looking for the good in life, the treasures of good health, good friends, events and situations that are pleasurable and satisfying. In a sense, I was mining for gold, but only in one area. It is good and right to give thanks to God for His gifts of mercy, but what if there is gold to be found in impossibly hard or even irritating situations. There are some treasures we will only find when we dig deeply into our life, when we endure hardships and struggles, and ask ourselves what gold can be found there too.

I hate to admit it, but I found myself whining and complaining about our recent travels, the irritations of airlines that either do not fly on time or never take off leaving us stranded. Places we wanted to visit only to be bombarded by post-Covid crowds, the pressures of deadlines and appointments, the juggle of responsibilities and wanting to find time to decompress. Then I realized I was only focusing on what I did not want, failing to appreciate or recognize the blessing of each of those irritating things. Could there be gold there too? For a recovering pessimist it almost sounds like a ridiculous question. James 1 encourages us “to count it all joy my brethren, when you encounter various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance…”

I believe the testing James is speaking of here, is the willingness to believe God is working in the pleasant, as well as the not so pleasant. He loves me enough to allow situations that will help transform me, IF I am will willing to look for it. During our travels I was also able to see hidden blessings of conversations with strangers, beauty amidst the crowds, moments of quiet He gave me that I forgot about, and delays that could have been His means of protection. Through these and other recent experiences I’m learning to surrender my need for control (again), I’m learning to dig deeper when faced with irritation and disappointment, and realizing I can’t just thank God for the good. I join with James in saying “count it all joy…”.

“There’s gold in them there hills” but not without some work and the effort of digging.

Ask yourself, as will I, when faced with the struggle, weariness, toil, heartaches, frustrations, and irritations, what treasure may lay beneath each one of them.