Down From the Mountain Top

"Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 

Matthew 17:1-4

Imagine the glory the disciples beheld on the mountain top with Jesus. Can we really blame Peter for wanting to stay there? Compare the transfiguration to tramping through the dust with Jesus, enduring the curses of the Pharisees, and it's not hard to empathize with Peter. But Jesus had good things in mind when He  took His disciples back to the daily struggles of life. There they had to learn to trust and depend on Him. Good training for when they would fulfill their mission of making disciples of all nations. God's still doing that with us today. There are times when He takes us to the mountain top, and we get a glimpse of His glory. We want to stay there, don't we? But Jesus gently takes us by the hand and leads us back down to the flat land, where we face the reality of living. And all the time He assures us that whatever we have to face there, He will get us through it. He will not leave us. "Come child," He says, "come down from the mountain top and learn to trust and depend on me. I will never leave you."