Have you ever had a mountaintop experience?
This expression can be expressed literally, as often after a struggle or effort to reach a summit people’s senses and emotions are joyfully overwhelmed. After looking out at the view and resting for a while, the descent begins, back to the starting point.
The term can also be extended to a spiritual high point—an incredible encounter with God. If you have experienced the spiritual mountaintop you will also be familiar with the descent from the encounter with God, which can be emotionally taxing and can take the form of discouragement and even depression.
Mountaintop highs and valley lows could explain why when we struggle with doubt we also wrestle with faith. When our emotions change and we do not feel hopeful, it is easy to feel doubtful. While struggles refine us and force us to really figure out what we believe, if we give in to the negative emotions, we start to lose faith.
In the Bible, the Prophet Elijah faced this very same fight between hope and doubt on top of a mountain and alone in a desert. God told Elijah in 1 Kings 18 to go to King Ahab and tell him the long-standing famine was to end. Elijah obeyed and gathered nearly 1,000 prophets of Baal and Asherah on the top of Mount Carmel. Elijah challenged them to ask their gods to send down fire from heaven. He said whichever god sent fire, would be the true God.
After an entire day of chanting and praying and penance, there was no fire for the prophets. Then Elijah called on the Lord to prove Himself and immediately fire flashed down from heaven. To this, every prophet fell down and proclaimed, “The Lord Is God! The Lord is God!” (1 Kings 18:39 NLT). It was a massive victory—a literal mountaintop experience with God.
And then, it began to rain.
In response to Elijah’s victory, the king’s wife, Jezebel, threatened to kill him. First Kings 19:3-4 says, “Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the desert, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord.’ he said. ‘Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.’”
The day before, Elijah boldly called on God to prove Himself in front of 1,000 people who opposed God. Now, after receiving a threat from the Queen, he picks up and runs away? What changed? Where was his faith?
Read Part Two Hope in the Face of Doubt Part Two: Why Did Elijah Run?
By Robyn Roste
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