“I am Jesus…now get up and go… “ Acts 9:5 (Amplified Bible)
Have you ever experienced a mountain top encounter with God? A time when He seemed so close you could almost touch His arm, almost feel His whispers in your ear? Oh, to stay in such intimacy, to never again face the rigors of the unwanted job, the unloving people, the earthly challenges of disease, discouragement, disorder, even one’s own weakness and failure. To always know exactly what Jesus wants, how to best follow and obey Him.
A first century man had such an encounter, one he wasn’t anticipating. He was certain of his understanding of God. He was sure of the “right way” to follow God. He was not only vigilant in preaching against those who differed from his understanding, but was determined to purify the faith in which he had been schooled and which he defended.
And then God intervened. It wasn’t geographically a mountain top, but when God appeared as a “light from heaven” and spoke with an unmistakable voice to Saul, the message was clear: “Get up and go and you will be told what to do.” True, Saul was blind and helpless, needing to be led by the hand like a child, but for the rest of his life, as he repeated the story of God’s intervention, he included his response and God’s further command to “get up and go.”
Jesus invited three of his closest friends one day to accompany him to a mountain top. The encounter was unprecedented, and while the friends didn’t understand it all and were even afraid, they wanted to stay in that place, to be this close to God. Jesus gives no specific command to “get up and go,” instead the gospel writers simply record, “they came down from the mountain.” They returned to the reality of ordinary ministry.
Mountain top experiences feed our souls, encourage our commitment and give us new and precious moments with God. But then we must come down. What God has allowed and encouraged now becomes food for the journey, drink for our thirst and sustenance for those around us.
Get up and go.
Father God, it’s so comfortable here in my rocking chair, in my quiet corner away from the noise and problems of the world. I desperately need these moments, God, but help me understand them to be special gifts to see you better, understand you more, accomplish with greater vigor the call you’ve given.
By Marilyn Ehle
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