We just completed a weekend Missions Conference here at Higgins Lake Baptist Church. It was one of those “mountaintop” experiences. God used three missionary families to challenge and encourage us to faithfully serve where the Lord has put us. After a group of meetings like this when you are with other Christians for several days and you are faithfully challenged with the scriptures you can’t help but be spiritually charged and ready for service. You can’t help but be on a spiritual high.
But what happens when Monday comes and you feel like you must come down off the mountain? For Carolyn and me things like seven of our eight children with the flu in the middle of the night last night has a way of bringing us quickly back to reality. Realizing that I’m beginning a new week of ministry and the preparation and challenges that come with it also make me feel as if I must come down off the mountain.
But do we really have to come down off the mountain? And if we feel like the circumstances of daily life are dragging us grudgingly out of the wonderful experience and challenge of an intense weekend with God’s people what can we do to keep some of the spiritual recharge we so needed? And likewise what can we do to keep the refreshing of the Holy Spirit we gain during the worship services we attend each week?
We know from Luke 9:28-36 that Jesus took Peter, James and John to a mountain to pray. This would turn out to be for these three a true mountaintop experience. Peter, James and John witness the splendor of Jesus in His transfiguration. The scriptures tell us the appearance of Jesus face changed and his clothes became like a stunning bright light. I think our English words fail us when we must use them to describe what these three disciples saw. We might describe an experience like this as “awesome.” Indeed, it must have been. Not only did these men see Jesus transfiguration but they also saw Moses and Elijah.
Having witnessed this must have been a moving experience to say the least. It would seem like witnessing God’s glory would be a life changing experience.
Having witnessed God’s glory should put us on the mountaintop. But should we allow the challenges of daily life make us feel as though we must leave? The disciples certainly had to physically come down off the mountain. But I have to believe that the experience of God’s glory carried them through challenges they faced in the days following.
Having been through a weekend of blessing at the table of God’s Word and having seen God’s people used to encourage some of Christ’s faithful servants I believe I’ve witnessed some of God’s glory through His people.
It is the witnessing of God’s glory that should drive us through our week of daily life and it’s challenges. It is in our daily lives that God wants to use us to glorify Him and further the cause of Christ. And it is the spiritual recharge He’s given us that He intends for us to use in the weeks ahead to glorify Him.