LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Not Only Mountains, Also Valleys
The Christian life is made not only of mountains, but also of valleys. In Matthew chapters 16 and 17 we find the illustration of this important truth personified in Peter, the first disciple. This passage alternately presents two mountains and two valleys in the life of Peter.
The first mountain and the first valley are in chapter 16. Peter's wonderful response regarding Jesus' messianism is the mountain, a true success due to divine inspiration; but the clumsy proposition that he makes to the Lord immediately after, not going to the cross, is the valley, since he is unable to interpret the will of God. Here Peter is severely rebuked by the Lord. Peter in the heights, and Peter in the lowest, together with Satan himself.
The other mountain-valley duality is in chapter 17: the glory of the transfiguration of the Lord before Peter, John and James is the mountain, and Peter's new clumsiness in wanting to raise three booths is the valley. This time it is God who intervenes to interrupt his madness. On this occasion the valley becomes more apparent –and literal– when the disciples show their impotence to heal the lunatic boy.
The disciples needed to learn from these experiences (and so did we) some valuable things:
– That the Lord Jesus is the center and raison d'être of every spiritual experience on the mountain. There he is revealed in all his magnificent glory. The Father will not let our attention stray from him.
– That in the Christian life there are not only mountains, but also valleys. And normally they are alternated, and given, some for our joy and confirmation, and the others to break our presumption.
– That we need the Lord both on the mountain of revelations and in the valley of affliction. The experience of the mountain could make us believe that we are something; that is why we need the valleys. How good that our God is the God of the mountains and the valleys! (1 Kings 20:28). He also shepherds us in the valley of the shadow of death (Ps. 23:4).
– That God not only expects our contemplation, but also our service. After receiving a glimpse of his magnificent glory, he wants us to embody that glory before men, for their testimony and salvation.
– The wonderful experiences lived in the mountains require the experiences of the valleys to be reflected; otherwise they will be a false mysticism. The experiences lived in the mountains encourage us when we later live in the valleys.
– The experiences of the valleys will only be failures and senseless pain, unless we have previously had a spiritual revelation on the mountain. The experiences in the mountains are not always understood at the moment: sometimes they are understood only later, when we pass through the valley.