Can You Come Down From the Mountain?

A close friend of mine recently told me, "I live a life filled of regret and guilt."

How sad. How sad, and yet...how easy. Why is it so easy to fall into a habit of feeling regretful or guilty, especially of those things beyond our own control?

It's been quite a while since I've blogged. Since January, almost four months have passed, and I've missed opportunities to share dozens of teaching stories; those that are encouraging, frustrating, and simply comical. I regret that. Four months have passed and I've missed opportunities to share encourage readers with stories of ministry and better understanding God's word. Why? Laziness. I feel guilty for that.

How sad it is to live a life of regret and guilt.

I don't want to live that life.

For Christmas I gave my dad a devotional that I read in my first year of proclaiming my faith; "My Upmost for His Highest" by John Updike. The devotional is phenomenal, and I knew it was a perfect gift for my father, one who always craves deep and purposeful reflection on scripture. His conversations about the readings have prompted me to re-read the devotional for myself.

Funny how a devotional always seems to be talking to you in the right moment.

Today's read: "Can You Come Down From the Mountain?" The devotional spoke towards the "mountain top" experience and how so often, many of us tend to feel "no good for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop." As it speaks to how we must strive to "bring everyday life up to the standard on the mountaintop," it quotes: "Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off your fleshly laziness. Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a mountaintop experience: all we talk about is our planning for our time on the mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary 'gray' day according to what we saw on the mountain."

It's time to shake off that laziness. Yes, I must shake off the laziness that prevents me from blogging. But even further, I must shake off my fleshly laziness that prevents me from experiencing a mountaintop moment on a "gray day." If I claim to follow Jesus, I must learn to take Jesus' yoke, and not my own. I must learn to trust Him.

Yesterday while driving to work, it was so foggy, I could barely make out a few hundred feet in front of me. Gray surrounded me. It's easy to be distracted by gray. So many missed events, opportunities, or conversations can evoke regret and guilt. I pray that with the power of God's Holy Spirit that He can drive me to search for the stream of sunshine through the gray; opening up a ray of opportunity to share and experience in His joy and love...even when not necessarily on the mountaintop.