Landing Safely After a Spiritual High
Wildwind Community Church
David K. Flowers
November 25, 2007
For those of you who have been part of the 40 Days spiritual journey that we’ve been on here at Wildwind, welcome. But I understand there will be some of you here that are maybe here for the first time and when I talk about the 40 Days that we’ve just experienced – you don’t know what we’re talking about. You may be just at the beginning of your spiritual journey. You may be somewhere in the middle. You start where you are. Some of you have been on a spiritual high in these past few weeks, as you have learned so much about God’s five purposes for your life – Worship, Fellowship, Growth, Service, and Evangelism. Some of you are still soaring coming out of the 40 days of our campaign.
How do you start on the next leg of your spiritual journey, especially, if you have been on a spiritual high? Let me ask you a question – what’s the highest point on earth? Mount Everest. 29,035 feet. Did you know that between 1,300 and 1,600 people have summitted Mt. Everest? They’ve made it all the way to the top. People have been attempting it since 1921. During that period of time, 160 plus people have died trying to summit Mt. Everest. That means that 1 in 8 die. And for that privilege, they pay about $60,000; give up 90 days of their lives, and 1 in 8 don’t make it back. What do you think that is about? Now certainly it’s the attraction; it’s saying I am in a small group of people that did something unique. But there’s also something about getting to the highest place that’s compelling.
Did you know more people die coming down Mt. Everest than going up it? See, you have to be extra careful coming off of a high place. And in life, if you’re not ready for the inevitable lows, spiritually and emotionally, you’re going to be in trouble. Life is a series of ups and downs, isn’t it? Life is a series of highs and lows. Today I want to help prepare you for that.
You know the highs are so good and the lows are so painful that there is something within us that just wants to hang on to the highs. We want to capture as much of heaven on earth as we possibly can. There’s a story in the Bible of Jesus on the mountain with his disciples and they had this unique, spiritual and I believe emotional experience. And then when Jesus was getting ready to descend, the disciples begged, “Could we just please stay here for a little longer?” We just want to hang on to the pieces of heaven on earth that we get.
There’s a great story about a little boy. He had this pet turtle, Albert, and all of a sudden Albert turns pale and rolls over on its back and lays motionless. So here’s this little guy and tears are streaming down his face and he carries this turtle to his dad. His dad is the ultimate salesman and he knows, “I’ve got to do a sales job on my heart-broken kid,” so he takes the turtle, puts it in a shoebox and he says, “Let me tell you son, this is the best thing that’s ever happened. Albert is walking around up in heaven right now. And I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We’ll have a funeral party and you invite all your friends. After we have the funeral, we’ll have cake and ice cream and games for all your friends. It will be great.” This kid started to smile. So the dad knows, I need to really close the sale. He said, “Okay, so let’s go outside now, let’s have the burial in the backyard.” So they carried the shoebox out into the backyard. And just at the last moment, the little boy opens the lid, peeks inside and Albert is walking around like nothing had happened. With a disappointed look on his face he looks up at his dad and says, “Dad, can we kill him?” Now for all of you animal activists, please send any complaint emails to mikemclaughlin@wildwindchurch.com.
You know there is a spiritual point to that story. We want spiritual highs at any price. We do. We want to stay spiritually high, but let me ask you. Is it possible to stay on a spiritual high? No. No, it’s not. If you read the Bible, what you’ll find is that the Bible is a parade of highs and lows, one right after another. Just take some examples. You know the story of Daniel, perhaps, in the Bible? Some of you don’t. Daniel was very faithful to God. That’s a high. But because of his faithfulness to God, he was thrown into a den of hungry lions. That’s a low. But the lions didn’t eat him. That’s a high. You see the pattern? There’s the story of Jonah. He runs away from God. That’s a low. He is swallowed by a great fish. That is a low. But the fish vomits him up on dry ground…is that a high or a low? It’s a high – there are only two ways out of a fish!
Go to the New Testament. You have Jesus, and He’s at His baptism and His Father’s voice is heard from heaven, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” That was a high. Immediately after that He’s in the desert for 40 days being assaulted with temptation by the devil. That was a low. But what happened after that? He began His ministry of teaching about the Kingdom of God and transforming lives and performing miracles. That was a high. But then what happened? He’s crucified. That was a low. But then what happened? He rose from the dead. And that was a high. Here’s what I know: because Jesus stayed faithful to God in the highs and the lows, it is in the highs and the lows that we will learn to become like Jesus.
Here’s a passage of scripture that I would like to spend a few minutes on, that describes a group of Christians that obviously had had some spiritual highs in their lives. Take a look at it there in Revelation 2. Revelation 2, beginning with verse 2. Jesus is talking to these Christians and He said,
Revelation 2:2-5 (NCV)
(2) I know what you do, how you work hard and never give up. I know you do not put up with the false teachings of evil people. You have tested those who say they are apostles but really are not, and you found they are liars.
(3) You have patience and have suffered troubles for my name and have not given up.
(4) "But I have this against you: You have left the love you had in the beginning.
(5) So remember where you were before you fell. Change your hearts and do what you did at first. If you do not change, I will come to you and will take away your lampstand from its place.
Notice the description of these followers of Jesus. They’ve grown in their faith. It’s obvious they had a clear sense of their purpose. They had served the Lord with gratitude and emotion and joy and diligence, but something had happened. Somewhere along the way in their journey with Jesus, something had changed. Now it wasn’t a work problem. They were working along just fine. As a matter of fact, the Bible says, “You’re great at work, you’re great at perseverance, you’re great at endurance.” They were doing the right thing. So it wasn’t a work problem. I don’t believe it was an information problem. I don’t believe it was thinking wrong things. They had the right information. Their problem was a love problem. They were suffering from what can adequately be described as heart-drift.
Let me ask you a question. Have you ever experienced heart-drift? Where your heart use to be just inflamed with passion and now it’s cold? I mean this happens in male/female relationships all the time. Let me show you what I mean.
[Show picture of young couple on beach]
This couple helps us capture a picture of what first love really looks like. How many of you remember that sick to your stomach, giddy, jumpy, wide-eyed, enthusiastic, passionate, can’t stop touching kind of love? Do you remember? For some of you it’s been a long, long time. Let me give you some attributes of what first love looks like. Number one, you have an insatiable desire to learn all you can about the other person. I want you to imagine this couple out to eat at a restaurant. Do you remember what that was like? He’s not even touching his food. Do you know what he’s doing? He’s talking to her. Yeah, that’s amazing. Having live conversation. “Tell me about your past. Tell me about your pain. Tell me about your parents. Tell me about your present. Tell me about your plans for the future.” But do relationships stay like this?
[Bring up slide of older people]
Somewhere along the road, I don’t know when it happens, something happens to love. Now I am not suggesting that older people can’t be in love. I’m inspired by couples who get into their 80’s and 90’s and are still deeply in love with one another. This isn’t necessarily an age thing. Okay? But I want you to imagine them out to dinner. He’s looking at his plate. He’s eating with both hands. Stuff’s falling on his shirt. He’s complaining about the price. And they’re not talking to each other at all. I’ve seen couples of all ages sit in restaurants and not talk to each other at all the whole time they are there. Something happens to love when we have experienced heart-drift.
A second attribute of first love is that there’s a heavy investment in that love relationship. You’re willing to invest heavily. Hey, you want to spend some time together? No problem, you have all the time in the world. You can see this guy saying to this girl, “Could I just drive by where you work and wave? Could I come in and watch you work? Could I watch you while you watch your watch while you work?” Money? Not a problem. They’re out to dinner – “Honey, order anything you want.” They go to the mall together and he says, “Baby, buy whatever you want.” That was back when he would actually go to the mall with her. Now this other couple, can you imagine him going to the mall with her? I doubt it.
So with first love you’ve got this insatiable desire and this heavy investment, but then thirdly, there’s an intense preoccupation of the heart. See, this couple [young], there’s no one or nothing else on their mind. Nothing else is grabbing at their heart. Why? Because there is no room in their heart for anything else. They are full of love for one another. This was the person to whom you were willing to give reckless abandon. This was the person who got your full devotion. All your affection. Every bit of your esteem. This person was your treasure. Their theme song?
[Clip – “I Will Always Love You”]
But this couple [elderly], what’s going through their head?
[Clip – “I Hate Everything About You”]
It may be that extreme. Or it may simply be that they have given up hope that they can still love one another. They’re not friends anymore. Something happened and it’s sad.
What is it that happens to love? Revelation 2:4 says something very insightful .
Revelation 2:4 (NCV)
(4) "But I have this against you: You have left the love you had in the beginning.
It does not say, “You have lost your first love.” It says, “You have left your first love.” It was a choice. Actually, it was a small series of choices. Now some of you have just come through this incredible 40 Days. Right now, you are on a high in your relationship with God. Others of you, you’re just observers here today. This is may be your first time here and again, thanks for coming. Let me tell you what the Bible says to you. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” And I’ll tell you what. Once you do, you will hunger and thirst for more of God. Because he’s not only desirable, he’s reliable. And for those of you who have thirsted for righteousness and you hunger for God, it’s as if your hunger and thirst seem unquenchable. You cannot spend enough time. You can’t leverage enough of your resources. You can’t offer enough of your life to Him. Love has captured you and you are a willing captive.
But eventually something happens. Clouds and storms cover the weather map of your soul. Rain and coldness blow across your heart and through a series of small – almost imperceptible – choices, you’ve left your first love. What are you going to do when that happens? What do you do if it’s already happened? How do you get started toward a new place in the spiritual journey that you’ve been taking?
Well Revelation 2 also gives the answers. Step one – the first step in this journey – in verse 5, Jesus said, “Remember.”
You know, when you were first in love with Christ, you’d come early, and you’d stay late. You were more like this couple [young] than this couple [elderly]. Like first love, maybe there was a time when you had an insatiable desire to learn about him. You made whatever investment in the relationship was required. He was the intense, preoccupation of your heart. All you wanted to do was love him and please him. Do you remember? Let me tell you something. God remembers. He remembers feeling the thrill within you the first time that the Bible really spoke to you. Remember that? He remembers your courage the first time you talked to someone else about how much Jesus meant to you. He was so proud of you. He felt your heart beating so fast in your chest that you thought it was going to burst. He remembers when tears would easily come to your eyes because you were so filled with gratitude and wonder and amazement and grace. He remembers. He remembers when you pursued Him like no other. When He was the object of your deepest affection. And you know what? He misses that. This isn’t about trying to create guilt. Because if the truth were told, you miss that, too. You do.
You know, more than anything, I just want to plead with you. Do not let your work for God destroy the work of God within you. This is supposed to be about a love relationship with the One who made you. So maybe this week, if that’s where you are, you could just remember when things were good, remember when you were where you needed to be, and just pray and tell God, “I miss that, and I’m coming back.”
Now look at verse 5 again.
Revelation 2:5 (NIV)
(5) …Repent and do the things you did at first...
Notice the next step you take. When you’ve allowed love to slip, verse 5 says, “Repent.” Now that is a heavy, heavy word. What does repent mean? The real definition of repent is, “I recognize that where I am is not where I am supposed to be. So, I turn and move toward where I am supposed to be.” That’s what it is to repent.
And number three, and this is right out of verse 5, you do what you used to do. So what do you do? You take one step at a time. You do the next right thing. You know what? You don’t get to a spiritual mountain top in one step. And you will not get through a low valley in one step. So what do you do? You put one foot in front of the other. You take one right step a time and you will successfully make your way through the low places.
Some of you didn’t make all the services of our Purpose-Driven Life series. Perhaps now you could say, “I’m going to come to church six weeks in a row.” You can’t commit to never missing another church service again, but I’ll bet many could commit to six weeks. I know because many people DID make all the weeks of our Purpose-Driven series.
How about Bible reading? How about this? – before you check email in the morning, how about five minutes with the Bible? Just 5 minutes before you check email. How about scripture memory? Just one verse of scripture a week, maybe, for the next six to ten weeks? Being wrong and doing wrong doesn’t always feel wrong. And being right and doing right doesn’t always feel right. But it doesn’t have to. Don’t worry about feelings. Motion will lead to emotion. Just take the next right step.
I want to be very clear. The goal is not just to keep you busy. The goal is not just a bunch of activity. This is all about real change. The expectation is that you start becoming like Jesus. Becoming the person God created you to be. When you boil it right down, our character is developed through our obedience and through our trust in God during the highs and during the lows. We trust Him when we’re up, and we obey Him. We trust Him when we’re down, and we obey Him. Will you choose to love the Lord through trust and obedience? Will you choose to obey all that God teaches you to do? It’s not about I’ll obey this part, but I’m not going to obey that part. Selective obedience is not obedience at all. That’s just called convenience. I’m talking about true obedience to God.
I hope today you would say “Okay, Dave, okay. I am willing with God’s help to try to follow Him, step by step, obedience and trust, through the highs and through the lows. But I have one question. What if I trip? You already said coming back down Mt. Everest is way more dangerous, so as I am into a low period, what if I fail?” It’s a great question. Here’s the answer. Even when you fail, God never does. When you fail, God never does.
Acts 3:19 (NIV)
(19) Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
Folks, God is not a fair weather friend. He waits with refreshing water for your spirit if you will simply give him a chance to love you. Sit in your small group and thank him for the friends he has given you. Come into our worship service and close your eyes while the music plays – allow yourself to soak in the words, and the presence of God that is in them. Sign up to be part of a ministry at Wildwind. Don’t overwhelm yourself with a million commitments, just take the next right step, whatever it is.
Maybe you’ve blown it – maybe your life is a mess. You thought, “God would never want me like this.” You could not be more wrong. Whoever you are, whatever you have done, God wants you to come to Him. It’s like coming home. For those of you who are wanting a relationship with God, start the journey today. For those of you who are on your journey, stay steady. Remember His love. Take the next right step. Just keep moving in His direction. Just keep making your way home to Him.
Let’s pray together…
“Heavenly Father, I know you’ve been pursuing me with Your love for a long time now. You proved Your love by letting Your Son, Jesus die instead of me for my sins. He paid the price. And God you raised Him from the dead – why? All because You love me. Father, I want to start a love relationship with You. Or some of you will pray…Father I want to stay in a love relationship with You. And though the feelings come and go, they rise and fall, I commit today, by faith and simple trust that I will continue and eventually make my journey home to you. And thank you, Father, for letting me know that when I arrive, you’ll be there to welcome me into Your presence forever. Amen.”
