3 Uncommon Mining Tips

A few weeks ago, I attended a Bible study where I was asked what advice I would give to a young student to encourage her in Christian living and spiritual disciplines. I recommended the basics: Prioritize and remain rooted in God’s Word (Jn. 15). Cultivate a personal culture of constant prayerfulness (1 Thess. 5:17). These comments are typical enough but lay the foundation of every vibrant spiritual life.

Next, I shared some counsel in three specific areas based on what I have found helpful but don’t commonly see.

1. Care for Your Body.

First, we are embodied souls, and while the spirit may be willing, the flesh is weak and may become a hindrance to receiving optimally what God would show and teach us through His Word. Because of this, action steps like going for a walk, drinking a glass of water, or getting to bed earlier can make all the difference in preparing our minds through our bodies to engage more intentionally with what God might have to impart. In the words of George S. Patton, Olympic athlete and U.S. Army commander during both World Wars, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” Pastor Rick Warren, while he in recent years may have made some controversial statements, speaks wisdom when he observes that sometimes resting or sleeping is the most spiritual choice we can make. We are holistic creatures, and caring for God’s gifts―spirit, soul, and body―are all part of walking as a Christian.

Our bodies are the home, the temporary tent, of our spirits (2 Cor. 5), and spiritual acuity and receptiveness remain tightly connected to our physical state. When our bodies are functioning at less than their best, our spiritual attentiveness suffers. On the other hand, when our bodies and brains are sharpened by discipline and cared-for by choices that consider our physical health, our minds are often more alert and prepared for spiritual inputs. Of course, the grace of God can always intervene and is not restricted by our lowly choices. At the same time, robust theological returns do not often exceed investments into the physical. Stewarding well the bodies and minds God has given us paves the way for spiritual yields.

2. Beware of other categories that could interfere with your spiritual appetite.

In other words, what you do outside your time with God has immense impact on what happens inside. Compartmentalization is the great lie of our age, the idea that we can have categories, of which religion may be one, that do not interact and can co-exist perfectly like siblings who never fight. My work life, church life, social life, and personal life, in other words, are independent, distinct, and unaffected by one another. In reality, however, sinful choices involving our companions, habits, and entertainment among other things can converge to create a divided heart that hinders our relationship and fellowship with God. In the words of Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” By making certain decisions, we can cultivate tastes, however unintentionally, that interrupt the purity in which a healthy relationship with God is rooted. In the words often attributed to D.L. Moody, “The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.” Choose your master wisely and know that God sees everything. Guard your leisure time and activities fiercely, for while rest from work is often needed, at no time are we at rest from an enemy who ever seeks to assault our affections, priorities, and loyalties.

A recent statistic states that among Gen Z Americans, roughly half (46%) feel like they are living a double life between their online and offline selves, a feeling shared by 27% of respondents across generations, 38% of millennials, and 18% of Gen X. Secular psychology might call this “inauthentic,” or behaving in a way that is inconsistent with one’s values. When this happens, research would suggest that stress, poor life satisfaction, and other negative outcomes often result. The Bible might use the word “duplicitous” or “hypocritical.” Either way, there is a sense that our lifestyle does not reflect what we truly are or value. We claim to be one thing and yet are another (Tit. 1:16). We may believe this will allow for more opportunities, allow us to relate to more people, or earn approval from a wider base. Unfortunately, as many discover, it often leads to the unnecessary pressures that come with what is essentially pretending.

Seek to preserve your one loyalty and let this be your standard for your engagement in all other categories. What would God think about my friends? My commitments? My entertainment? Living in a way that yields to self over Scripture, shelves core beliefs and conviction in favor of indulging competing appetites, hides from existential challenges, cowers when the political or spiritual somehow overstep their bounds and land in spheres where they have been ousted, and exchanges courageous authenticity for the fleeting acceptance of fools cannot help but end in discouragement, disgust with self, confusion, and despair. We can have and enjoy multiple dimensions of our lives, but we cannot live multiple lives―at least for very long. Quit pretending. Once you were in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live unashamed as a child of light (Eph. 5:8).

3. Beware of viewing your relationship with God as transactional.

Let me clarify. If I don’t have my quiet time in the morning, I could imagine that this translates into disfavor toward me, leading to feelings of shame. “I don’t deserve an answered prayer,” I could think. “I haven’t given God what He deserves. Why should I expect Him to listen to me?” My friend, I submit to you that this is but thinking of God as a man. Men operate according to these rules, according to the law of the deal (“You do this for me, and I’ll do this for you”). When men are not satisfied, they withhold. Not so are the ways of God, because His love, mercy, and grace are not dependent on our behavior. He knows we are but dust. God doesn’t need me. If I don’t have my quiet time, using the same example, I, not God, am the one missing out. Remember that God desires to be with you, is for you, and does not keep a record of wrongs (1 Cor. 13:5).

One more word. Seeing our relationship with God as transactional could also create feelings of distance, leading us to justify behaviors from which we would ordinarily abstain. “I’m already far from God,” I could think. “He probably doesn’t care if I do this. What’s one more mark against me?” My friend, this is not God. His arms are always open, He always sees, and He always welcomes anyway.

Several years ago, I served as a leader at a four-weeks-long girls’ camp. Before the camp began, I read through the profiles of the girls in my group, including their biggest struggles, fears, and challenges in their relationship with their parents. (These were questions they had answered on their applications, to which their leader alone had access.) For four weeks, we bunked together, ate together, and worked together. I knew what they were going through, especially at home, but only when they came and talked to me about it could our relationship really grow.

In a similar way, God wants us to approach Him. Yes, He might know everything, but we don’t have a relationship with Him until we ask. His love supersedes and covers everything; He now invites us to Himself. He has taken the ninety-nine steps. He asks us to take the one.