“. . . the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver. For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.”

Job 22:25-26 ESV

Sweet Husband and I often say, upon starting a new work day, that we’re “going to the salt mines.” Now, I’ve never mined in my life, unless you count stopping in Helen, Georgia at a small “gold” panning operation for the kids to dabble in a sluice in the hopes of finding a shiny, fake rock.

Real mining is hard and dangerous work, especially anything that requires workers to go underground. Salt mining has an especially odious connotation, as it is often depicted as a complicated and grueling job necessary to harvest a product essential for survival. Throughout history, criminals and other supposed enemies of the state were sentenced to work in the salt mines, where they endured risky, brutal conditions.

That doesn’t sound like my work environment, and it’s not Sweet Husband’s either, although he does see some pretty complicated server room set-ups, with their dusty and tangled menageries of cords that drive him crazy (I should call him Neat Husband too).

But saying that we’re going to the salt mines is a stretch, and even though it makes us chuckle, we know that our careers are blessings, the same as each day of our lives. 

I might work hard, but I don’t go to the salt mines. My days are gold mines, and I always find a way to hit paydirt. There are blessings all around me, from my cup of coffee at sunrise, to my rocking chair on the porch at sunset. Even in the daily melee, when my mind is filled with worry, anger, or frustration, I can still see God’s golden truth gleaming through the chaos.

And whenever I can, I try to be the gold for someone else. Goodness knows we’ve got enough “salty” folks around!

Prayer: Father, thank you for your many blessings. Help me to see the good in the world.