Beyond the Mountaintop: Building a Faith That Lasts
We are too often mountain top chasers: big events… big demonstrations of faith… mountain tops that feel, by definition, out of this world. There’s nothing wrong with the mountain top, in fact it’s great! But what happens when your entire Christian walk revolves around the high of the mountain top? How do you as a leader carry the pressure of life-changing breakthroughs being the status quo? Is there a category of faithfulness in the hills and valleys as well?
In my ministry and coaching practice, one of my favorite models of faithfulness is Daniel. Daniel was a man with plenty of mountain tops. As a teenager he defied a king’s authority around food. He defied a plot to feed him to lions for his faith. He was even a prophet who spoke to what God was doing on a cosmic scale in both real time and over centuries!
Daniel is one of my favorite models of faithfulness, not because of the mountain tops, but because Daniel is a prime example of doing the next right thing.
If you didn’t know, the book of Daniel covers a time period of decades, from the time Daniel was around fifteen to his death in his mid-eighties. Why is this important? Because all the mountain tops combined come up to a couple of years at most, many of which take place in weeks or even days! 70 years of faithfulness; a small fraction of that was on the mountain top.
So what does ordinary faithfulness aka the next right thing look like? For Daniel, it was:
Praying daily, even when it was risky.
Maintaining integrity in his work and relationships.
Seeking wisdom and insight from God to serve faithfully in challenging circumstances
Staying consistent day after day, year after year, even when no one noticed
Your life may not include lions’ dens or prophetic visions, but you probably already know your “next right thing” to do. These are the ordinary actions that compound over time: showing up consistently, keeping integrity, encouraging people consistently, or committing to spiritual disciplines that strengthen you day by day behind closed doors.
So I invite you to consider:
Are you relying on occasional mountain-top moments, or are you building steady, daily faithfulness?
What daily, sometimes boring, practices would build your faith over time? (Prayer, Bible reading, fasting, etc.)
How could consistent ordinary obedience prepare you for bigger tests and opportunities down the road?
Extraordinary impact doesn’t come from mountain tops alone; it’s built in the hills, valleys, and daily choices we make consistently. Start small. Start today. Do the next right thing, and trust that God is handling the rest!
And if you want help learning how to live that out in your own life, you don’t have to figure out the next right thing alone! Through coaching, we can uncover the habits, routines and decisions that will help you live faithfully in the ordinary to build a life of impact. Click here to explore coaching with me.
