Ooops...
So my mama was looking on my blog for the October 2nd update... I just posted on my FB page yesterday but think she is right. I'll add this here as well so there aren't any gaps...
What I wish someone would have told me before I became a pastor's wife...
Ministry doesn't happen often on the spiritual high peak of a mountain-top experience. Instead, it's battled out in the valley... authentic ministry happens in the muck filled trenches of day to day life.
Mark 9 reminds us that Jesus didn't allow the disciples to build 'shelters' or stay up on the mountain indefinitely, he took them to the valley to pour out their love on those in need.
I love how eloquently Oswald Chambers says it:
"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.--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.--After every time of exaltation, we are brought down with a sudden rush into things as they really are, where it is neither beautiful, poetic, nor thrilling. The height of the mountaintop is measured by the dismal drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God. We see His glory on the mountain, but we never live for His glory there. It is in the place of humiliation that we find our true worth to God— that is where our faithfulness is revealed. Most of us can do things if we are always at some heroic level of intensity, simply because of the natural selfishness of our own hearts. But God wants us to be at the drab everyday level, where we live in the valley according to our personal relationship with Him.
-Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (October 1st & 2nd)
What I wish someone would have told me before I became a pastor's wife...
Ministry doesn't happen often on the spiritual high peak of a mountain-top experience. Instead, it's battled out in the valley... authentic ministry happens in the muck filled trenches of day to day life.
Mark 9 reminds us that Jesus didn't allow the disciples to build 'shelters' or stay up on the mountain indefinitely, he took them to the valley to pour out their love on those in need.
I love how eloquently Oswald Chambers says it:
"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.--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.--After every time of exaltation, we are brought down with a sudden rush into things as they really are, where it is neither beautiful, poetic, nor thrilling. The height of the mountaintop is measured by the dismal drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God. We see His glory on the mountain, but we never live for His glory there. It is in the place of humiliation that we find our true worth to God— that is where our faithfulness is revealed. Most of us can do things if we are always at some heroic level of intensity, simply because of the natural selfishness of our own hearts. But God wants us to be at the drab everyday level, where we live in the valley according to our personal relationship with Him.
-Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (October 1st & 2nd)
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| hiking in Utah for our friend Tracy's wedding |
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