Up, Down, Up

Our pastor has been going through a series of sermons about the Israelites and their wandering through the dessert on their way to the Promised Land. AND we have been reading about the same journey in our Ladies Bible study!
As I have been listening and reading through Exodus...it hit me one day....."Moses went up the mountain."  "when Moses went back down to the people."  "God called Moses to the mountain top"   "He returned to the Israelites"
UP, DOWN, UP, DOWN.

Exodus 19
³ Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said,
⁷ So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak.
So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.
¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow
¹⁴ After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people,
²⁰ The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up ²¹ and the Lord said to him,
²⁴ The Lord replied, “Go down and bring Aaron up with you.

Exodus 24 
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, ² but Moses alone is to approach the Lord

¹⁸ Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.

³¹ So Moses went back to the Lord and said,

Do we feel like that sometimes in our walk with the Lord?  We have this great "mountain top" experience, we are hearing and seeing God every where! We feel we are walking right in step with Him!
Only to feel like we have fallen down the mountain; God seems so far away, we don't feel we can hear Him or know the direction He wants us to go, life seems overwhelming and dark.
It gave me encouragement, if a man like Moses who was truly "in tune" with God, had his ups and downs....of course I will!
In his ups and downs Moses was always following God's will.  God called him up to the mountain and He sent him back down again to do His business, His will.
When Moses was on the mountain he was in communication with God, conversation, he was actually in God's presence.
But when he went back down the mountain it usually wasn't a fun or joyous occasion because he was bringing news from God about what the Israelites needed to do or reminding them who God was and their lack of obedience to Him.

When he was on the mountain he was in God's presence, they talked "as friends would take face to face"
And some times it was for extended periods of time.
But he would always have to go back down to do God's work.

Exodus 33

¹⁰ Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. ¹¹ The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.

14The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Exodus 34

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.

We should take joy and revel in our "mountain top" experiences, but know that they are preparing us and encouraging us for God's work that is to come. Some times those experiences will be brief and other times they will last quite a while, just as with Moses.
We need to be encouraged because His presence will go with us!  Our mountain top experience is the rest our souls need for the work.

We need to use our "mountain top" experience to change us!

We should look different to those round us...maybe even look "radiant" ...because we have been in the presence of our GOD!

So when we feel like our spiritual journey is constantly up and down....remember Moses....and remember that God has a purpose for each UP and each DOWN!

Prayers for you, that God gives you rest and encouragement in your UP and that He gives you guidance and perseverance in your DOWN and that you know that this won't last forever, He is going to call you back UP to the mountain soon!