My biggest nightmare would be to be trapped undergound. I have always been slightly claustrophobic and the mere thought of not being able to ‘get out’ of somewhere can make me a bit panick- stricken and start looking for the nearest paper bag. I read yesterday that rescuers drilling into the cavern where those 33 Chilean miners are trapped completed a borehole ahead of schedule, raising hopes the men could be out earlier than expected. (I’m hyperventilating at the thought.)

The 30cm-wide drill guided by a pilot hole half its diameter reached 630m beneath the surface, puncturing the top of a passage near the chamber in the San Jose copper and gold mine where the men have taken refuge. The next step is to place a wider drill on the rig and start a hole 70cm across – wide enough for the miners to get out.

Video shot by the miners and released by the government later apparently showed scenes of bedlam below when the drill broke through, sending a shower of water and rock down into the chamber. Just reading that gave me palpitations and an overwhelming desire to find Jon’s ventalin.

“We are extremely excited by what has been done today,” said miner Mario Sepulveda. Surely that’s an understatement!! These guys must be experiencing so many different emotions- excitement being only one!

The government previously said it would take until early November to rescue the miners under the most optimistic scenario. But mining minister Laurence Golborne said that now “we’re a little bit ahead.” The earlier estimate had built in the possibility of more setbacks than the effort has seen so far, he said. Golborne was careful not to provide a new estimate. (I BET he was.)

The miners have endured sweltering conditions for weeks, and the discipline and resiliency they have shown through their ordeal has been a point of pride among Chileans – especially so as the nation celebrates the bicentennial of its independence this week. Each of them has been given a job or role in order to ‘stay sane.’

Once the larger hole is dug, it will be reinforced with a metal sleeve. The hope is then that the miners will be hoisted up in an steel “escape capsule” that is still being designed but will be fitted with oxygen tanks and a communications system.

What an extraordinary film this will surely make. You can almost smell the scent of Hollywood sniffing around it all can’t you? I’ll warrant that someone somewhere called Dwight or Randall isn’t sleeping much, is drinking hideous amounts of strong coffee and is writing new scenes everytime CNN update their homepage. I predict a release date of 2012…

Most of us will never suffer this kind of trauma. We are fortunate to have running water, TV’s, coffee machines and nice people called Denise who type up the minutes of our meetings. We have no idea what it is like to be bombed, live without food, clothes or ready-meals for any length of time.

So why is it that we westerners are so miserable? We have SO much materially and yet we also have the highest rates of depression and suicide. I think a big key to happiness and contentment is in ‘purpose.’
When we have purpose we feel a sense of value and, quite literally don’t ‘go mad’. When we have a bad day, bad month or bad year, it is often because we feel we have not achieved anything…

I have friends at the moment who are doing jobs that they are not actually that thrilled about. They CAN do them, but they don’t LOVE doing them. Their value and their purpose is diminished. They are not quite hitting the ‘this means everything to me’ button that every X factor contestant is meant to say each time the camera is looking.

Think for a minute about the last time you had a real buzz about something. What was it? Who were you with? What were you doing?
Like that Chilean miner got all excited at the thought of being rescued, is this not what your heart longs for too? Wouldn’t you just love someone to ride into your workplace on some noble steed (yes I admit that I have watched Shrek 2 too many times!) and gather you up and take you off to do something wonderful with your life?

Do you know what? God does not want you to waste another minute of your life doing something unextraordinary. He is an extraordinary God with incredible things for you to do. Why are you allowing yourself to be trapped under those layers of rubble?
Freedom awaits.

Do something about it today. God is drilling you out. Are you ready to be rescued?