A few years ago I attended a retreat in the mountains of Tennessee. I went with expectations of healing and fellowship but didn’t expect, after leaving, to have such a deep longing to feel that mountain top experience again. Of course, the location was magnificent and the beauty from the lodge breathtaking, but that wasn’t what my soul deeply missed.
There in that place on the mountain surrounding and engulfing me, was the Lord’s presence, thick in the air swirling above and below and all around.
While my search for that mountain topexperience has led me to seek isolated locations with similar beauty and majestic views, no earthly location would ever be enough.
Even if I went back to the same mountain, if God didn’t meet me there it would only be a beautiful place to visit.
In this case it was not about location, location, location.
What I’ve learned is that God isn’t limited by magnificent views and breathtaking sites, although He is certainly magnified in those places.
He is not limited to or by them because the presence of God isn’t a place.
The presence of God is an experience, an encounter with the One who knew us before He formed us in our mother’s wombs. He knows every nook and cranny, every thought, every word and deed, every secret place and He loves us with a deep agape love.
Just one moment in His presence is more magnificent, more breathtaking, more amazing than any location on this earth, more than anything this side of Heaven.
The mountain top experience that I so desperately sought would only be found when I stopped looking to outward things, when I stopped seeking the perfect place and desperately sought after The Perfect One.
He was there on that mountain and He is with me always, wherever I go and whatever I do and if you’ve accepted Him as your Savior, He is with you too.
1 John 4:13
Amplified Bible
By this we come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we abide (live and remain) in Him and He in us: because He has given (imparted) to us of His [Holy] Spirit.
About Lanette
First and foremost, I am a Jesus follower, wife, mom and grammy. In my day to day I’m an assistant publicist for Baker Publishing Group, an artist, a writer and a blogger with a deep desire to share trials, triumphs and God’s unending grace. Connect with Lanette at her blog Grace Found Me, on Twitter or via Facebook.
First and foremost, I am a Jesus follower, wife, mom and grammy. In my day to day I’m an assistant publicist for Baker Publishing Group, an artist, a writer and a blogger with a deep desire to share trials, triumphs and God’s unending grace. Connect with Lanette at her blog Grace Found Me, on Twitter or via Facebook.
Beautiful.
Thank you Regina 🙂
Lanette, we can easily make memorials of places that where God has met us at but I love how you pointed us instead to the perfect one rather than finding the perfect spot.
Thanks Wanda, I love how HE reveals himself to us in such unique and beautiful and sometimes unexpected ways!
Beautiful and inspiring post Lanette! I too long for the mountaintop experience EVERYDAY. Even with laundry and work piled all around me. Thanks for the reminder that HE is right here <3
Thanks Sherri, I need to remind myself of that often!