Mining for Good Things

2 Chronicles 19:3

Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.

When God looked at Jehoshaphat's life, it would've been easy for him to point out all the bad. Jehoshaphat had a great weakness of joining up with people who were against God. He had a tendency to always be on the wrong side of friendships. God could've easily just told us about the weaknesses of this man; however, God said there are good things found in thee. God would rather mine through all the junk of a life to find the good than to easily point out the sin in a life and miss that good.

Mining for something is not always easy. When you are mining for gold, there is much work you have to do to find the gold. However, all the hard work to mine out the precious gold that you are looking for is worth it when you realize the value of what you find.

You have two choices in life; you can go the easy way to show all the sin in a person's life, or you can make it a habit to mine out the gold in everyone's life. It is easy to point out the junk in people’s lives because every person is a sinner and sin is so easily seen. However, to find the gold in people means you have to work to find the gold in them. To find the gold in people, you may have to work through all of the junk they have cluttered their lives with to find the gold. I would rather be a gold finder in one's life to show God can use them than to be a sin propagator of one's life to destroy them. Let me share some thoughts about the importance of mining the good out of lives and situations.

First, lazy and evil people focus on the bad in one's life or in situations. The reason you will find more negative people than positive people is because the good is often hidden by the negative. The easy thing to do is to point out the negative in one's life or in situations because we don't have to work to find that. You can live your life pointing out the negative in people’s lives and situations, but you will miss the gold that will benefit you and others.

Second, you can always find something good if that is what you were looking for. I don't care how bad a life may be; there is always some good in that life. Many never thought there was good in Saul's life, but they did not see the gold of Saul becoming the apostle Paul and becoming the apostle to the Gentile world. Imagine if Barnabas was not a gold finder, we would not be saved today because the Gospel would have never reached the Gentile world. My friend, in every bad day, there is something good you can find. In every person's life, there is something good you can find if you are willing to search for it. In your church, there is something good you can find if you're willing to focus on the good instead of on the bad.

Third, your choice of focus will determine whether people’s lives, a church, or situations will benefit or destroy you. If you choose to mine the gold out of every person, every church service, and every situation, you will find a precious benefit that will not only benefit you, but also many others around you. I challenge you to be a person who mines the gold out of lives, churches, and situations. You will do more to build lives by being the gold finder than you ever will by pointing out the negative. You will find that people will be more willing to spend time with you if you make it your endeavor to find the good in others, within your church, or in everyday life.