No matter where we find ourselves today, whether we’ve had a fresh experience of intimacy with God, we’re struggling in the valleys, or we’re plodding through the plains, let’s never forget: God does not only meet us on the mountaintop. He is with us in the valleys and the plains, too. And God is with us, right now. If we are in Christ, he is lives within us (1 Corinthians 3:16). 

If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you’re probably familiar with the mountaintop experience cliché. Inspired by Moses ascending the mountain at Sinai to meet with God (Exodus 19:3–25; 24:17–18), this concept is meant to describe a special awareness of God’s presence and love for us. A keener sense that he is with us than we might otherwise have.

I’m sure many of us have had this experience at one time or another. It is a good thing when we do. But we also need to be careful in what we assume about such experiences. Specifically, we need to recognize that, just as the sort of communion Moses enjoyed with God was unusual, that heightened sense of God’s presence is not our typical state of being.

Pursuing Something More Than a Spiritual High

To put it a bit more bluntly, life is not a series of mountaintop experiences to be chased after. Chasing after mountaintop experiences is essentially chasing after spiritual highs. We may not be looking for a deeper intimacy with God. We might be looking for a dopamine hit, something to make us feel good or happy. (And just so you know, despite being a late-Gen X/early-Xennial who prefers songs in minor keys, I am not anti-happiness.)

But when we start chasing after spiritual highs, we also start to define our faith by them. When we get that high, life is good. We feel as though we are gaining greater insights from Scripture. Our prayers are more focused (and possibly ornate). We’re ready to do big things for God and share the gospel with that friend who doesn’t know Jesus. But when the high starts to fade, our sense of intimacy and our resolve go with it.

Basically, we’re like kids after a week at a Christian summer camp. We’re amped up for a while, but by the time October rolls around, life is back to normal.

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