Guest post - a Chaplain from WWI

Most of us are familiar with Oswald Chambers - he's the author of My Utmost for His Highest.  What you may not have known is that he was a Chaplain during WWI in Egypt where he eventually died of a ruptured appendix. 

Below is one of the entries from his famous devotinal.  It speaks powerfully to me, maybe it will to you too.

. . . Jesus took . . . them up on a high mountain apart by themselves . . . —Mark 9:2

"We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time."

Mountaintop experiences are wonderful and I'm grateful for them, but be careful of only seeking those experiences.  Life is lived on the mountain-sides and in the valleys. Allow those mountaintop experiences to sustain you, but not to make you discontent when you travel the valleys of everyday life.