Jesus Only

Picture silence. What do you see?

Nothing. Darkness. The absence of sound. Stillness. A period of time without speech or noise.

400 years of silence. 400 years without a voice from the Lord calling out to His people. 400 years of waiting for the promise of a Messiah to come to fulfillment. And the Lord’s people waited, wanting, desiring, longing, hoping, wondering.

And as a baby’s cry pierced the cold night air, the darkness would be shattered in a million places forever. It would go to China, to Australia, Rome, Greece, South America, India, Japan, Mexico, Chicago, Eureka... The light was now shining in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it.

A messenger was sent to prepare the way for this Messiah. Before the foundations of the world were laid, it was determined that John the Baptist would lead and prepare the way for the light. And he did. “John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mark 1:4)

And when John had accomplished the purpose to which he had been sent, “Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

And all through the gospels you see this incredible story falling into place, perfectly fulfilling all of the prophecies that had spoken of its coming. You see the Great Rescuer coming and interacting with people. For the first time, you see God Himself come to dwell with, walk with, laugh with, do life with….sinful men.

Men who, despite their massive failures, would become so radically transformed by seeing the greatest glory of Jesus and believing in this gospel. Men, who would stake their very lives on its truth, would turn the world upside down, and whose sweat and blood would pave the way for people like me and you to hear about and believe in the gospel.

Men who had walked with Jesus.

In Mark 9, we find three of these men on a mountain top with Jesus (Peter, James, and John), and their first hand encounter with the glory of God coming down and being revealed. (Check out Mark 9:1-13)

Jesus has just finished telling them that he has come to suffer and to die, and then he leads 3 of his closest disciples on top of a mountain with him. Here they get a phenomenal, epic “mountain top” experience that completely blew them away.

And while I’ve been meditating on their encounter on the mountain, my mind has been going the most to the verse following.

(Mark 9:8) “And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.”

I love the mountain top experiences of walking with the Lord. When the glory appears so bright, when you are blown away by the Lord, when the Word speaks so clearly and loudly, and when it “seems easy” to be led into worship. When Jesus feels close, spending time with Him such a joy, prayers are being answered, our hearts refreshed, we love our church….the list goes on.

But, regardless of what some might say, life is not lived on the mountain top. Life is not lived in a constant, spiritual high. It’s living in the day to day faithfulness on the road. Some people may be blessed with more mountain top seasons, but eventually all of us are asked to live out our faithfulness in the routine of doing life. And if you’re like me, when you stay there awhile, you can often begin to doubt what the Lord is really up to. You long for the spiritual high, but it’s not coming. It can feel tiring, dry, even hard. Or maybe you have a short season on the mountain, but coming down hits you like cold water in the face as temptation and life quickly set in.

As I am writing this, I am thinking of a new friend I have made up here in Chicago. A new friend who faithfully attends church and small group week after week…alone.

A friend who faithfully keeps praying every day for her husband and children and grandbabies to come to know Jesus.

A friend who has taught me some things these past few months.

Recently we were given the task of setting up a Christmas tree for a church party, and she taught me how to make a Christmas tree stand out of rocks and old buckets and sand. Things you find in back alleys and in church basements.

She’s challenged me in my love for God’s Word. Her Bible is so marked up and highlighted, that it’s falling apart. She loves meeting with Jesus in her mornings.

She tells me she can’t read very well and never wants to read out-loud because she never completed an education past the 7^th grade when she dropped out to have her first baby. But she doesn’t let that stop her from digging into the Word.

She always tells me she’s blessed, even when she says it with tears in her eyes because of how hard her week has been.

She never misses church, even when I find her sitting alone in the back.

I don’t know how many of her weeks, how many seasons she has gotten on the mountain with the Lord, but I can write this with so much confidence that in her darkest days and greatest struggles, this verse is her hope.

Jesus is with her.

She may no longer see anyone with her, BUT JESUS ONLY.

And it’s enough for her to keep walking faithfully day in and day out.

My promise verse of 2011 has been Psalm 139:5, “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.”

I look behind and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there too.

Jesus has been all over 2011, whether we have spent much or very little on the mountaintop. This is to bring much hope to the believer that even if we look around and it feels no one else is still walking with us, Jesus is.

Will He be enough for you this next year? Will you be alright if you look around and it’s Jesus only?
Will you still praise Him if you doesn’t allow you to experience the mountaintop for a long time, but calls you to the road?

Will you acknowledge that Jesus has been there, behind you in these last 12 months, and He’s already there up ahead in 2012?

Jesus only. May that promise be more than enough for us all.