Comparing Mountaintops

This week I listened to a sermon by Tim Keller called "The Still Small Voice." You can find it here. 

He walked through Elijah's mountain top experience found in 1 Kings 19. Elijah found himself at a place called Mount Horeb. That's its less popular name. Its more popular name is Mount Sinai. There was another prophet that also had a mountaintop experience there a few years before. His name was Moses and that can be found in Exodus 19. 

Keller made a point that hit me: Moses and Elijah had very different experiences on the same mountaintop. Moses got thunder, smoke, and trumpets. He basically got the heavy-metal-concert-version of an encounter with God. Elijah saw the wind, earthquake, and fire but God wasn't in them. Instead, God showed up to Elijah in a still, small voice. God used the big, explosive, and unavoidable with Moses. He used the meek, mild, and calm with Elijah. They were equally significant experiences with God but they looked very different.

In my life and ministry, I've observed a temptation in all of us. We are tempted to replicate the experiences of other people. He had a moment at church when everything was clear. She heard a voice when she was praying that laid it all out for her. Shouldn't I have the same thing? Is there something wrong with me? Am I less connected with God? Instead, is it possible that we're looking for thunder and trumpets when God is using a still, small voice? Both are mountaintops because God is speaking. It's possible God is giving us our own mountaintop but we're waiting to have someone else's.