Why Blessings Are Often Brief

Please read Numbers 30-31 and Mark 9 if you're reading through the Bible in a year. Tomorrow's readings are Numbers 32-33 and Mark 10.

After six days, Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. -Mark 9:2 (NIV)

In yesterday's devotional, I mentioned that I serve on a committee that interviews candidates for ordained ministry in my denomination. Next week, we'll be meeting at Beersheba Springs Assembly, one of our conference campgrounds in the mountains of Grundy County, for these interviews. Click here for one of the breathtaking views.

I love the mountains. I'd love to own a home in the mountains. I'm convinced that I'd write better sermons if I could sit out on the back deck overlooking a babbling brook while watching the sun rise over the mountain each morning.

But then I think about why I love the mountains so much: it's because I don't get to go there often. If I lived there every day, perhaps I'd begin to take it for granted. Perhaps I'd still find a way to write a bad sermon despite a good view.

In Mark 9, three of Jesus' closest disciples go with him up on a high mountain. There, they have an incredible experience of seeing Jesus transformed before them and talking with Moses and Elijah. Not wanting such a moment to end, Peter states that it's good for them to be on the mountaintop having a mountaintop experience; he wants to build a shelter there for each of them to remain. Apparently, Jesus has other plans. They must instead leave the mountaintop and Jesus must continue his journey to the cross.

Maybe the point is this: mountaintop experiences are wonderful opportunities for revelation and renewal. But they mean so much in part because they're so brief. The fact that most of life is lived in the valley makes mountaintop experiences special. You and I may wish that we could preserve such special times, but the reason they are so special is because we can't preserve them.

May God grant you the grace to understand that mountaintop moments are special blessings in part because they're so brief. If you're in a valley today, I pray that you'll soon have a mountaintop experience that will bless you. If you're on the mountaintop today, I pray that you will experience the renewal and revelation needed for the valley below.