Listen to Joni record her 11,000th radio program! Glory to God and thanks to listeners like you for keeping the Radio Ministry here at Joni and Friends alive! Here’s to more radio programs helping you overcome mountaintops in the future!
SHAUNA: Hi this is Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Well, boy Joni, doesn’t it seem sometimes like life is like a big rollercoaster?
JONI: That’s right, you know you can be on top of the world one day, in love with Jesus, soaring in the Spirit, full of his peace and joy. And then you’re on top of the rollercoaster and you go splat, down, down, down, face-down and frustrated! You’re at rock bottom, with little peace, no joy, and your faith all dried up. And your spirit as dull as dishwater. It happens to you my listening friend, and it happens to me too. And it happened to the three best friends of Jesus – Peter, James, and John. Because in Mark 9, we find them with the Lord up on top of the Mount of Transfiguration. There, they get an up-close-and-personal look at the dazzling, snow-bright glory of Jesus as he reveals himself in a way he never had before. The three disciples know that they are in the presence of God, and they drop to their knees, jaws agape, dumbstruck with wonder and ecstasy! They want to build a temple, a monument, something to mark the moment. They are not only on top of the mountain, they’re on top of the world.
Now, you’d think that once-in-a-lifetime experience would carry Peter, James, and John for years into the future. But no. Just a short time later, they are with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane where the Lord reveals a different part of himself. He showed them how exactly distressed and troubled he was. And well, you know what happened next: Peter, James, and John yawned, and then hit rock bottom. They were out; dead asleep. All that spiritual get-up-and-go got up and went.
And we are no better than they were. We rise to some new level of spirituality and commit ourselves to a fresh allegiance to the Savior. “Oh Jesus, I’m with you; I’m yours, I’m committed, I’m dedicated to you; I pledge myself to remain devoted to you only.” We say that and then we are bewildered at the depths to which we fall spiritually and emotionally almost the next day. So, what happened? Well, here’s the thing: you can say you are dedicated and pledged and committed to Christ. But the power for that dedication and pledge and commitment comes only from Jesus. Power flows from Jesus. Life flows only from him. Even your spiritual life cannot hinge on your commitment to Christ. That only sets you up for defeat because your commitment means nothing. Jesus says without him you can do nothing; you can’t even stay committed to him. So, instead, glory in his commitment to you. Something like, “Oh, God, I am committed to you, but I need your help to make it happen. I’m devoted to you, but I cannot live a devoted life without you, the prince of life. I am pledged to you as your bride, with you the bridegroom – but I cannot fulfill my pledge without your power.”
So, friend, come to Jesus daily with your emptiness, your spiritual want, your lack, your leanness. Acknowledge moment-by-moment that Christ is the one whose arms are underneath you, yes, as you rise to the mountaintop. And he is also the one who preserved you as you descend to the other side if – if I say – you utterly cast yourself upon him for grace, and strength, and power to abide in him, stay in him, lean and rely on him up the mountain and down. It’s the old lesson of “we are weak, but he is strong.” We just need to remember that, whether we are on the mountaintop, or when we are in the valley. It’s the way I live. And I urge you to live the same way.
SHAUNA: So tomorrow morning friend, when we wake up? Let’s commit ourselves to give our weakness to God too. Because he’s got plenty of mountaintops planned for our future.
JONI: And I can’t wait!
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