June 11 I Tuesday

Ezra 1-2

John 19:23-42

“Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory….You are that head of gold.”—Daniel 2:37-38

There was a time when King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that none of his wise men could interpret for him. Frustrated and angry, he swore to kill every last one of his wise men in Babylon, but by the mercy of God, Daniel was able to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. He relayed to the king that his vision was of a mighty and enormous statue, with a head of gold, and its body of bronze, silver, iron and clay. Daniel explained that the King was the head of gold and that God had promised to give him power, might and glory to rule over his kingdom.

What a mountaintop experience King Nebuchadnezzar must have had when he heard Daniel’s interpretation of his dream! Many of us may recall a time when we had a mountaintop experience with God. A moment where God seized our hearts and minds that made everything clear and wonderful. It is in those moments that we look ahead and think to ourselves, “things are going to be different.” We start to walk with God, but then a day, a week or even a few months go by and that moment of clarity starts to disappear. Our thinking that everything would be different starts to dissolve and old behaviours and patterns start to emerge once again.

King Nebuchadnezzar could have rested in the good of God’s promise and put his life on a quest to understand the God that Daniel spoke about. He could have explored the reasons why God had placed kingship, power and wealth in his hands, but Scripture tells us that within short order, King Nebuchadnezzar’s old patterns started to resurface. He had encountered the peace of God but he was now falling back on his own actions and ego to reinforce his power.

We may have had a mountaintop experience, where God is speaking to us and we hear His promises. But old patterns can easily start to re-emerge in our lives and we start to go on with life drifting back into self-reliance. When we are no longer resting on the good of His promises declared to us, the seed that was sown into our lives can be snatched away.

Though it is easy to slide off the mountain, this does not mean that we are hopeless. Fast forward Nebuchadnezzar’s story, and we see that God was not done with him. God kept calling, reminding and transforming King Nebuchadnezzar until he became a God-fearing king. When we encounter a mountaintop experience with God, may we persevere in our faith, holding steadfastly onto God’s promises and walking with Him daily.

Prayer: Dear God, thank You for giving us mountaintop experiences so that we can tangibly feel Your presence working in our lives. Help me to move forward from my experience by pressing closer to You and clinging to Your promises.