WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2021 MOUNTAIN TOPS AND DESERTS

 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2021 MOUNTAIN TOPS AND DESERTS

COMPETITION, MOUNTAIN TOPS, AND DESERTS (OR DESSERTS!!)

For the last two days, I’ve looked at competition and found that as I climb my “second mountain” (David Brooks’ book), that I am now competing against myself.  And, I will be back to David Brook’s book down the line.  It isn’t about competing, but about service, groups, and moving away from individualism.  

I mentioned last week that I love mountains.  I’m going to use an old Amy Grant song:

And I'd love to live on a mountain top

Fellowshipping with the Lord

I'd love to stand on a mountain top

'Cause I love to feel my spirit soar

But I've got to come down from that mountain top

To the people in the valley below

Or they'll never know that they can go

To the mountain of the Lord

We sometimes talk of those “mountain top experiences”   Those times of “fellowshipping with the Lord. WOW - those are very special.  Yes, I can “feel my spirit soar”!!  (WOOOO!!!)

*****

But, (in my humble opinion), I learned more in the desert experiences.  

And another song - America, “A Horse of No Name:

I've been through the desert

On a horse with no name

It felt good to be out of the rain

In the desert, you can remember your name

'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain

*****

Going through the desert generally implies going through a “dry period” in one’s life.  Things are tough.  In the Bible, Moses went to the desert after he killed an Egyptian (who was harassing the Hebrews).  He went to the desert area and herded sheep (not necessarily an experience that involves public speaking!!)

One source said this “One day, when he was in the desert, Moses heard the voice of God speaking to him through a bush which flamed but did not burn. God asked Moses to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land.

Jesus was in the desert for forty days after his baptism.  

There were early hermits who lived in the desert.  Some lived in pinnacles and lowered a rope to get food and beverage sent up.  

A desert experience seems to mold a person.  Maybe hunger, the dry conditions, the isolation can lead a person to introspection.  In the Islamic tradition, Muhammed also had a desert experience.  King David spent time in the desert while Saul hunted him.

In Deuteronomy 8:2-5 the writer (supposedly Moses) says:

“Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.”

Hmmm … so a time in the wilderness is to humble a person, to hunger after God.  

For some people, it might be a tragedy - death of a spouse, the death of a child or parent, loss of a job, divorce - some experience that forces you to go deeper into yourself.  (And, again, it doesn’t have to fit in the Judeo-Christian realm).

One source said this: “God leads every believer into the desert at one time or another.

Well, maybe not every believer.  I can’t give you a Bible verse that says that.  But in over 30 years of pastoring, I’d say God leads most believers into the desert at one time or another.”

*****

Have you had a desert experience?  A time of isolation, of hunger (maybe both physical hunger, and spiritual hunger?) A feeling of being outside of humanity?  Have you grown stronger because of some of the trials in your life?  

I have been through the desert (and I didn’t have a horse).  I’m not sure if I can share my desert experiences yet.  (But, I’d love to share my dessert anytime!! And as somebody pointed out - desserts is stressed spelled backward!!!)

Maybe the desert has helped me with my philosophy that LOVE WINS!!!  But, more and more, I KNOW that LOVE does WIN!!!

Hugs!!

Karen