The Valley

 "Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the top of the mountain. No one else was there."....We are not built to live on top of the mountain, but in the valley." Oswald Chambers

Jesus took these three disciples to the mountaintop, where they would be witnesses to His transfiguration. What an experience that had to have been. Peter was so in awe that all he could do was blather on about building a memorial to commemorate the experience. I would have loved to have been there, and likely, I would have been as stupefied as Peter, John, and James. We love the mountaintops. We want to stay there...but we can't. In this fallen world, none of us can. We can be thankful for the mountaintop, but we will live out most of our days in the valley.

After this wondrous time, Jesus led the three back down the mountain. When they got to the bottom, they found a dispute between His disciples and a man whose son was possessed by an evil spirit. He had come for help, but the disciples could not cast out the spirit. Very likely, the three who had been with Jesus tried to do so as well, and like the others, failed. Finally, Jesus intervened, and with His command, the boy was set free. In this story, we see much of the problem in the life of a believer; we can't live in the mountaintop moments. We will have to face the reality of the valley. As Chambers writes, "On the mountaintop we can believe anything. But what about when we're up against facts in the valley?" It's a pointed question for you and me. Can we live in the faith we had on the mountaintop when we are faced with the pain, hardships, impossibilities that will abound when we return to the valley...where we'll be living most of the time?

Chambers said that "the test of our spiritual life is the power to descend." We find that power not by trying to live in the atmosphere, the experience, of the mountaintop, but by living in the atmosphere of the Kingdom of heaven. If we cling to the experience, we will always be shaken. If we cling to the One in whose Kingdom we are to live, then we can live in His power even in the midst of the deepest valley. When we have the power to return to the everyday valleys and yet retain the spiritual strength to conquer the adversity that abounds there, we are, as Paul said, "more than conquerors."

Before the pandemic, it was common to see great Christian events and conferences advertised. These were almost always heavily attended. There has always been a large element of the church that seeks the excitement, the "mountaintops," that can be found in these gatherings. Some spent a great deal of time going from one of these to another. They wished to live perpetually on the mountaintop, if not spiritually, certainly emotionally. With the pandemic, the ability to attend these all but disappeared, as did the ability to be a part of regular, local corporate worship. Suddenly, life seemed to be nothing but the valley. Too many lacked the "power to descend." They were overwhelmed in the valley. To what degree were you and I among them?

We live in a fallen world. Life will contain unavoidable pain, disappointment, and times of exhaustion. God is gracious and merciful. He provides us these exhilarating times with Him as a means of refreshing and renewing, but He will always send us back down into the valley. Sometimes, oftentimes, as with Jesus and the three, chaos awaits us there, and in that lies our opportunity to bring Him glory. On the mountaintop, He speaks with us, reveals Himself, takes us deeper into His life. On the mountaintop we are empowered.....to live for His glory.... in the valley. There, the truth He revealed to us on the heights is proved out in the depths. For our good and His glory.

We can be thankful for the mountaintop, but I don't think that's where we'll find Him to be the most real. I think that happens in the valley, where we find how truly almighty He is. The reality of the valley will reveal to us the reality of our Lord. We had little trouble believing Him on the mountain, will we, today, believe Him in the midst of the valley. Will I? Will you?

Blessings,

Pastor O