Your Mountain-Top Experience
“And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face. Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me,…” Ezekiel 3:22-24
If you’re living for the mountain-top experiences in life, you might be missing something indescribably greater. The Lord told the prophet Ezekiel four things. Arise. Go forth. Into the plain. And I will there talk with thee. Don’t miss the message, my friend.
God wanted to speak to Ezekiel personally. One-on-one. God had a mission for Ezekiel. First Ezekiel had to arise. Why? He needed to prepare to move. What did Ezekiel need to do when he arose? Go forth. Why? To get to the location where God wanted to speak to him. Now Ezekiel would have a mountain-top experience, right? Wrong! God told Ezekiel to go into the plain. Why? To get into the position to hear from God. Per Strong’s concordance, the Hebrew word meaning plain is a valley between mountains! This wasn’t about enjoying the amazing view high atop a beautiful mountain. It was about hearing and obeying God! God was sending Ezekiel to a mere valley. This was about going to the place and being in the right position to hear from beautiful, magnificent, glorious God who would give him instructions on how to serve Him!
What did Ezekiel do? He arose! He went forth! Into the valley! What did he find? The glory of God! How did he respond to God’s amazing presence? What position did he take to hear from God? He fell on his face! He humbled himself before God! He was ready to listen! God filled Ezekiel with his Spirit and spoke to him. He gave Ezekiel the incredibly challenging life’s mission of being a watchman to warn the rebellious children of Israel they must repent or face God’s wrath. God knew the people would refuse to repent, but He gave Ezekiel the job anyway so they would be fair warned. Despite the daunting mission Ezekiel faced, he obeyed in reverence to God. This was not what we consider a mountain-top experience. The glory for Ezekiel wasn’t in a life of ease, comfort, luxury, and security high atop a beautiful mountain. The glory for Ezekiel in going into the valley to hear from and obey God with his life’s mission was THE LORD HIMSELF, IN INTIMACY WITH HIM, IN LIVING FOR HIM!
Are you living for life’s mountain-top experiences, or are you willing to arise, go forth, into the plain, to humble yourself before God, to study His Word, to hear His voice which always lines up with His Word, and to obey? Is it time to arise and go forth where God is calling you?