I have never climbed Mount Everest, the Matterhorn, or even Mount Hood. Just driving up Signal Mountain, Tennessee's winding W Road is enough of a climb for me. But that’s not to say I haven’t had some wondrous mountaintop experiences.
There have been exhilarating personal events, such as getting married and watching my wife give birth to our children. I’ve enjoyed a number of career milestones, and there have been those thrilling moments of watching my favorite sports team win championships.
But the mountaintop experiences that stand out most for me have all been spiritual. Maybe you can remember exactly when you became saved, committing your life to Jesus Christ. Unlike some people, I can’t cite the day and the hour, but know it was more than 40 years ago. Being able to pinpoint the precise moment might seem important for us, but I don’t think it’s such a big deal for God. After all, Ephesians 1:4 declares, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” God knew before we did.
What I can recall vividly is an October weekend in 1984 when I was in Minneapolis, Minn. for a conference. At the time, even though I was on staff with a Christian ministry, I was struggling with my faith. Anxiety and anger were nagging companions, and I was beginning to question whether I was a true believer at all. “If the Bible says, ‘if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation’ (2 Corinthians 5:17), why do I think and act like the same old knucklehead I’ve always been?”
That weekend God in His grace placed me in the home of a man who spent hours helping me to grasp for the first time who I was – and am – in Christ, not who I was feeling that I was or wasn’t. The joy that swept over me was one of the landmarks of my faith, a mountaintop experience I’ll never forget.
I’ve spent time on some other spiritual mountaintops over the years: Attending conferences where Bible teachers expounded on truths I had not understood previously. Meeting outstanding examples of people devoted to following Jesus, both famous individuals and “ordinary” folks who aren’t quoted or recognized from podiums. Having someone tell me how something I had written about God and the Christian life had spoken to them deeply.
Perhaps you have some cherished mountaintop experiences of your own. But you know something? We’re not made for living on the mountaintops; most of our existence must be spent on what Oswald Chambers called “the demon-possessed valleys.”
We see this powerfully demonstrated in Matthew 17:1-9, which recounts Jesus leading Peter, James and John up a high mountain by themselves. It says, “There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking to Jesus.” Do you think that caught the trio of disciples’ attention?
They were so awe-struck they wanted to commemorate the event. “Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well-pleased. Listen to Him!’ When the disciples heard this, they fell face down on the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. ‘Get up,’ He said. ‘Don’t be afraid.’ When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.”
Peter, James and John were probably thinking something like, “Wow! This is awesome, man! Let’s just hang out here – this is the best!” But Jesus took them back down the mountain. In fact, He instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Can you imagine how the disciples felt? They not only had to leave the mountaintop behind, but also were forbidden to share with others what they had experienced. Soon afterward they were back in the valley, watching Jesus minister to a boy who had been possessed by a demon. What a contrast.
That’s the way it must be for all of us. We revel in our mountaintop moments, but we must return to the valleys of everyday living, with its tedium, stresses and struggles. As Chambers writes in his devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest, “We all have experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain….
“It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley. We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life – those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we prove our stamina and strength….”
Can you identify a mountaintop experience or two that God gave you? Be thankful for them. He may use them in our lives in special ways. But as Chambers said, the test is whether we can turn those moments of inspiration and exhilaration into consistent, fruitful living the Lord.
1 comment:
Good words, Bob.
I remember years ago when I was going through a long period of unemployment, I came across a poem called "It's in the Valleys that I grow." Along with you, it made the point that mountain tops were wonderful, but it was in the valleys of life that God really spoke into me and moved in my life... producing that fruit, you talk about. Hope you're well. Keep up the work of ministering the word to us.
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