Post-Mountain
Morning devotion: Mark 9:14-32
How very interesting once again that God is showing me that He knows exactly what I am going through! Jesus had a 'good day', an uplifting time, an inspiring moment at The Transfiguration earlier in this chapter. He knew, as did we, that it was a 'mountaintop experience' (literally!) and that He and the three disciples with him on that day would have to come down from the mountain and begin living everyday life again.
And - sure enough - the minute they came down from the mountain, they were hit with 1) work, 2) people demanding things from them, and 3) people who still did not understand His glory and continued to cause Him mental stress. Wow. What a gloriously encouraging thing that I can see how Jesus went through the exact thing that I struggle with so often.
The curious part is that we all know the mountaintop experience will never last. We know that we have to go back to the monotony and sometimes drudgery of everyday life. However, I think on some level, we either 1) forget how 'bad' everyday life can be while we're on the mountain, or 2) we think that somehow our everyday doldrums will be miraculously transformed after our mountaintop experience.
Of course, neither of these things ever happen completely. The only thing our mountaintop experience can do for us is 1) give us the sense of refreshment that we need to somehow continue on, or 2) change our own attitude toward the everyday monotony of life, thereby making it easier to deal with in some way on our own personal level.
What's the old cliche? God doesn't remove the storm, He changes us or strengthens us to deal with the storm... Oh, and don't forget we can not usually change our circumstances and we can never change other people - we can only change ourselves.
So (!) in response to the disappointment we often face when rebounding from a 'good day' of our own, an uplifting time, or an inspiring moment, we must remember to monitor our own atttude and not let the trials of everyday life get us down or frustrate us. What did we learn on the mountain that can help us through this day? How has Christ changed us through our encounter with Him so we can move forward everyday with joy and in victory?
Use the power of the mountain to sustain us (somehow!) in the day-to-day... today!
~lk
How very interesting once again that God is showing me that He knows exactly what I am going through! Jesus had a 'good day', an uplifting time, an inspiring moment at The Transfiguration earlier in this chapter. He knew, as did we, that it was a 'mountaintop experience' (literally!) and that He and the three disciples with him on that day would have to come down from the mountain and begin living everyday life again.
And - sure enough - the minute they came down from the mountain, they were hit with 1) work, 2) people demanding things from them, and 3) people who still did not understand His glory and continued to cause Him mental stress. Wow. What a gloriously encouraging thing that I can see how Jesus went through the exact thing that I struggle with so often.
The curious part is that we all know the mountaintop experience will never last. We know that we have to go back to the monotony and sometimes drudgery of everyday life. However, I think on some level, we either 1) forget how 'bad' everyday life can be while we're on the mountain, or 2) we think that somehow our everyday doldrums will be miraculously transformed after our mountaintop experience.
Of course, neither of these things ever happen completely. The only thing our mountaintop experience can do for us is 1) give us the sense of refreshment that we need to somehow continue on, or 2) change our own attitude toward the everyday monotony of life, thereby making it easier to deal with in some way on our own personal level.
What's the old cliche? God doesn't remove the storm, He changes us or strengthens us to deal with the storm... Oh, and don't forget we can not usually change our circumstances and we can never change other people - we can only change ourselves.
So (!) in response to the disappointment we often face when rebounding from a 'good day' of our own, an uplifting time, or an inspiring moment, we must remember to monitor our own atttude and not let the trials of everyday life get us down or frustrate us. What did we learn on the mountain that can help us through this day? How has Christ changed us through our encounter with Him so we can move forward everyday with joy and in victory?
Use the power of the mountain to sustain us (somehow!) in the day-to-day... today!
~lk
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