You bring me up here on the mountain
For me to rest and learn and grow
I see the truth up on the mountain
And I carry it to the world far below
-Steven Curtis Chapman
This song came to mind as I spent the morning scouring the gospel accounts for wisdom about what to do to really honor the Lord when He fulfills your most intense and intimate longings. I find that counsel is readily available when we need encouragement in times of distress or exhaustion. But what role should "winning" play in our lives as believers? What about when God gives you the desires of your heart? When He heals? When He brings provision that only He can? How does He want us to respond to that?
Jesus often discouraged those healed and touched from telling anyone about it...why? Doesn't He want us to be a witness? Sure He does. But we can get so wrapped up in making it about everyone else that we miss the opportunity for a very real, very personal encounter with God Himself.
So often, filled with adrenaline and excitement, we rush to share with everyone else what has happened...We get our "likes" and our "high fives," and then the moment passes, and we move on to the next endeavor or longing, having never taken a moment to share the experience with the Provider at all...We pour out before taking a moment first to fill up fully on what God has done (and what He might be preparing us for in it).
The people in scripture secluded themselves (Elizabeth) and prayed (Hannah) and served (Peter's mother-in-law) and made grand gestures of devotion (Mary). It was like no one else mattered in those moments. They drew nearer to Jesus in their victories. What I observe is that getting what we ask for is not as much about obtaining the stuff of life as it is about growing in faith and devotion - it's personal! God wants to work IN us before He works THROUGH us. The ministry that comes from that is supposed to happen, but it's should be an indirect result and not the central focus.
I am challenged today to let God use answered prayers in my life to work from the inside out - to allow them to bolster my faith in Him, intimacy with Him and resolve to live for Him - to be in awe that the Creator just wanted to give me His attention and touch and to be thankful for that amazing grace. I want to learn to sit on the mountain top in that restful, quiet place more often, and breathe in God's power and provision in my life...and then...after that...to exhale it out through authentic living, obedience and hope for those who God places around me.
Blessings!
