From the archives of Oral Roberts
Have you ever “fallen off the mountain”? By that I mean, have you ever had a mountaintop experience with God and then fallen into a period of great discouragement? I have, and the Scriptures tell us about others in the Bible who did.
Elijah, a mighty prophet of God, is one who faced that kind of situation. He’d done a great work, and Queen Jezebel set out to kill him. Elijah ran for his life. And after a day’s journey, he was so weary that he asked God to let him die. He fell off the mountain (I Kings 19:1–4).
Job, a great man of God who was perfect before the Lord, suddenly had disastrous things happen to him. The devil accused him before God, his family and property were destroyed, and he became afflicted from his head to his feet. Utterly alone, Job cried out, “O God, I wish I hadn’t been born!” (Job 3:1). He fell off the mountain.
How do you get back up on the mountain? It takes faith. You put your faith into action by planting seeds of faith, believing God to lift you up. Then you listen for His voice inside you to guide you and tell you what to do.
Elijah went to a place where he could be alone with God, where he could listen. And he heard God’s still, small voice say, “Elijah, here’s what I want you to do” (I Kings 19:9–16). Job also listened, and he heard God whisper in his heart, “Pray for all those who’ve done bad things to you” (Job 42:10).
We’ve all fallen off the mountain at times, but when we look to God for help, He is ready to restore us and lift us back up on top of the mountain.