Devotional Thought – Mountaintop Moments And Valley Victories

08 Feb Devotional Thought – Mountaintop Moments And Valley Victories

“Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” Mark 9:5

Peter had just experienced the most wonderful, powerful event in his life. He had been caught up in the glory, taken to the summit of the mount with his master, the Lord Jesus.  The sights of his surroundings and the constant murmur of men had overshadowed his world with a sense of glory that he had never known before. For a moment, for a brief moment, he had lost himself and wanted nothing more than to forget everything and everybody that he had ever known and stay on that mountain top forever. The temporal things of the world had become his enemy and he no longer wanted anything to do with them. He wanted to rise above them in rapture, stand on the summit in victory, and set up an eternal tabernacle on that mountain top.

How many times have I wished for the same? How many sweet times of fellowship with my Lord have I longed to have last forever? When I gathered at His table and took the cup and the bread in my hand in remembrance of Him, or during the nights that I spent at the altar in prayer, how often did I wish to set up a tabernacle in that place? But too soon I heard the stirring of people, the hushed voices of those around me, the doors open and cars start up as life began to move again. I have often mourned over having to leave that special place too soon. “Why do I have to go back?  Why can’t I just stay here? This is a good thing. This is a special place. I don’t want to leave! Why must I always leave the quiet place to return to the roar of the battle? Why won’t my Lord allow me to do what Peter asked and make for Him a tabernacle here?”

The answer I have received is the one given to Peter – “Get up and go! This is not your rest.” You see, men were not made for the mountain. We were made for the valley. The place that is best suited for the soul of man is not the mountain of glory, but the valley of ministry. You see, at the foot of the mountain is a demoniac who needs to be delivered. His cries come up the cliffs from the valley of his humiliation. Am I too good to enter into his tent of suffering? Am I above being a help to those bound up by sin?

So then, the cloud that veils His Heavenly vision is really my glory. It is drawn for my good. The storm that sends me back down the mountain is indeed my tabernacle of rest. It calls to me from the valley, from those who are sick and sorrowful and sinful and says, “Build your tabernacle here!”