What are we doing still
sitting on the mountaintop with our vision of God? We are of no use there. Jesus made each of us a
new creation and, yes, we love spending
time with God, but we have to work out the salvation Christ has put in
us through His Holy Spirit. We
must seek out God where He is working and join Him in His work. Times of prayer prepare us
for times of working with Him. Mountains prepare us for valleys and should not
keep us in the clouds, unwilling to work.
Paul tells Timothy he must train himself. He
says, “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for
bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is
profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also
for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:7b-8, NASB). Even
Paul realizes and teaches his students that the Christian must be in the fray
of everyday human life. It is not the staying on the mountain that tells your
witness for Christ, but how you interact with people and in situations.
If you are so keen on staying on the mountain, you must ask yourself, are you
trying to stay in the vision you had on the mountain or trying to maintain your
relationship with God? If the former, you have lost your connection with
God and are putting the vision higher than God, making it an idol in your life.
Remember, God is the One who gave you the vision; the vision did not give you
God. We must continue to hold our relationship with God more dear
than the vision. God wants to have a relationship with you in your everyday
life. He wants to present Himself through you to the people you meet. God wants
humanity to know Him as you present Him in your person to them, the Holy Spirit in you
encountering people and their needs.
Paul rightly said, “For if we are
beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of
sound mind, it is for you.” (2 Corinthians 5:13, NASB). Paul
speaks of being in his “right mind” because his and our conviction and
compulsion from the Spirit is that we must tell everyone Christ died for them.
We cannot hold onto the vision and not walk in the world. We must walk in the
world if for no other reason than the great urgency of conviction that Christ
died for everyone and they must be told and given the opportunity to believe and receive
salvation. This
is life in Christ, communing with God and sharing and showing the love of God to the world. Visions bolster us and energize us, but of what
use are we if we do not leave the mountain top?
