reflection #2: warm water cools
japanese relaxation theorists think the ideal temperature for a bubble bath is 100-104 degrees fahrenheit. i am thinking mine was closer to 400 degrees, as my skin went from its normally pasty white to a lobster red fairly quickly. a little too hot.
i let some of the more scalding water out and turned on the faucet to straight cold water until the water was no longer boiling. however, for some reason the cold water wouldn’t turn all the way off, and trickled down the place where i laid my feet.
instead of being a normal person and putting my feet back in the comfortable, bubbly water, i kept my feet set underneath the faucet, allowing my senses to feel the tension between the warm water which enveloped most of my body, and the chill of the cold water which trickled down my toes.
just like this little sensory experiment, it is so easy to want to be surrounded by the warmth and peace all the time. in our spiritual lives, oswald chambers refers to it as the mountaintop experience. god’s presence is completely felt and seen. we are enthralled by his beauty and our hearts leap knowing we’re safe. i’ll let ozzy take it from here in a beautiful description of the warm water…and the cold –
After every time of exaltation, we are brought down with a sudden rush into things as they really are, where it is neither beautiful, poetic, nor thrilling. The height of the mountaintop is measured by the dismal drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God. We see His glory on the mountain, but we never live for His glory there. It is in the place of humiliation that we find our true worth to God – that is where our faithfulness is revealed. Most of us can do things if we are always at some heroic level of intensity, simply because of the natural selfishness of our own hearts. But God wants us to be at the drab everyday level, where we live in the valley according to our personal relationship with Him.
eventually, my bubblebath would have gone cold, and probably a little sooner than i would want assuming the cold water would have kept dripping out of the faucet. and a lot of the time, i’m not on that mountaintop. but where it’s a little colder in the valley, a little foggier, a little less pleasant…this is the place where the father truly works through me…and in me.
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12 responses to “reflections from a bubble bath (2 of 3)”
This entry reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: “Coronary Christians are like the heart in the causes they serve. Adrenal Christians are like adrenaline—a spurt of energy and then fatigue. What we need in the cause of [Christ] is not spurts of energy, but people who endure for the long haul. Marathoners, not sprinters” (John Piper). I want to be the marathon runner, not the sprinter with a burst of energy on the mountaintop, which is what I so often am.
apparently a hot bath has the equivalent effect of a couple of glasses of wine – maybe that’s one way to keep one’s feet sober, lol.
Your thoughts stir something in me – how often i chase for the mountain and the immediacy of God – i’m hard wired for instant satisfaction and can so easily measure my faith in terms of how good/close i feel to God, have i had my spiritual high/fix for the week?
But the reality of my life is one where i seldom deny myself anything so it becomes ultra hard when i can’t feel God – when God denies me the fix to weed me off this instant consumution mentality and to help me find and be found in that uncomfortable questioning places of life…
Thanks for all the posts Anne, I have really been challenged and inspired!
Anna – that’s a great quote!
Paul – I comletely understand…
Skyler – Thanks for the encouragement!
Ah! You do what I do during the summer. I will take a blasting hot shower for 15 minutes. At the end of the shower, I will complete shut off the hot water and and let this wave of cool water rush over me.
I love that feeling.
I wouldn’t say I *love* the feeling…but I loved the tension… :)
Its so interesting you posted this today…my husband and I were just talking about “the dark night of the soul” (St. John of the Cross) as it pertains to the current issue regarding Mother Theresa’s letters.
So the question I’m thinking about today is, “How long would I serve God if I didn’t FEEL Him?” How long can a person really live off of a “mountaintop experience”? Walking with Jesus means doing it all the time, even when I can’t feel Him.
Sarah – I love that expression. Mother Therssa’s letters are beautiful and if anything, convey faith and love through action inspite of circumstances of her mind and heart. Thanks for mentioning that.
Great point and observation. I never thought about the mountaintop experience that way before.
Thanks for sharing.
Abiding – thank you for coming by! I hope you’ll stick around and enjoy the community!
Jill Briscoe talked about us as sheep and Jesus the shepherd once. The shepherd must lead the sheep into the valley as that is where the greenest, most lush grass is to eat. Valleys are for munching and building strength.
That is one of my favorite chambers entries. It says something new to me every time I read it. Anna, that Piper quote is a great one too!
We have got to bring those moments into our day to day lives!