I write this post with the realization that I haven’t posted anything in almost a month. I could make excuses, but I won’t, I’ll be honest, I haven’t been focused for awhile now for several reasons, the most important being that I haven’t been intentional, responsible, or faithful with my time. Honestly the quarantine during March and April was one of the best and clearest times of my life. During that time I lost 27lbs, started this website, laid the foundation for a podcast (Juxtaposed Moments), co-started a book club, and most of all re-discovered me. As good as all of this was, the mountaintop experience I had didn’t last. Like Moses’ time on Mount Sinai, and Jesus’ experience on Mount Tabor (Mountain of Transfiguration Matthew 17), sacred and fulfilling alone time with God comes to an end at some point and we are forced to return to a society that doesn’t understand or value a real relationship with God. It’s difficult to transition back to a “normal” space after experiencing a moment of true communion/fellowship with God. The mountaintop is important for several reasons, but I’ll only mention 2:
- The mountaintop is the place we go to meet God, separate from the crowd. There are times when God will instruct us to come meet him, and it will require effort, sacrifice, and isolation from us. God wants to know that we choose him, and it will require us to sacrifice some time, relationships, but most of all it will require effort from us to press towards him. My mountaintop experience was the beginning of the “quarantine” where I ran 5 miles each day, maintained a vegetarian diet, and studied his word daily for an hour+. It was the most clarity I received spiritually to this point in my life.
- The mountaintop reveals us. When Moses fellow-shipped with God on top of Mt Sinai, he experienced God’s glory for 40 days and nights. When he returned to the people at the base of the mountain, they observed God’s glory radiate from Moses’ presence. Moses had been filled with God’s glory, and equipped with some of his power from the time that God summoned him from Midian. Though Moses carried out God’s plans on earth, his glory wasn’t clearly revealed in Moses until he dwelt in God’s presence on the mountaintop.
Reflection Time
Where have you been? Have you been to the mountaintop? If not, why? What has caused you to stay at the base of the mountain, and what do you need to start climbing or for the journey ahead? What do you hope to obtain or discover when you reach the mountaintop? Do you feel that the mountaintop is necessary for your spiritual journey?
