Join us as Louie Giglio explains what happens after we are on the other side of completing something huge in faith. We train, prepare, and put in the hard work of summiting the mountain of what God has called us to, but what do we do after? Learning to navigate the descent is just as important, if not more so, as the ascent.

Most of us have learned to navigate the ascent well. We put heart and soul into something. We pour out everything we have physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to partner with God and accomplish something amazing that brings Him glory. But as soon as it’s done, the decent beings. How do you take on the climb down without losing your footing? What is the first thing we can do to prepare?

We have to learn to expect the dip. If you do something great, it’s likely that you are going to have an emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual letdown in the aftermath.

Most of us are too quick to move on to the next thing. But consider this: if you run a marathon, you will wake up the next day feeling it. You will be beat up and sore, overwhelmed, and grateful that it happened. What may surprise you is an accompanying sense of letdown. After all, everything you were working towards is suddenly over. The same rules apply when we do something huge for God.

On the descent, you may not feel great. You may get sick, you may get depressed, you may feel like everything is just off. Even if you are a believer… you’re going to experience a letdown. Learn to expect it.

Throughout scripture, we find that God’s people took the time to remember what God had done. They celebrated His miracles, deliverance, and mercy. They passed these stories down through the generations so that their children, and their children’s children, would know God’s character by remembering His faithfulness. But sometimes, just like us, they were too quick to move on, and their worship became focused on an idol. Remember the story of the Israelites, who, after they had been freed from bondage and even led through a sea that God had split apart on their behalf, turned to worship an idol they had created with their own hands. Don’t make the same mistake in your own life. On the back side of a mountain of faith, be sure to rest in God’s goodness and testify to His faithfulness before you ever look down at what part you played.

Psalm 89:1-37 is a great example of looking all around you and seeing what God has done and how to recount His faithfulness. Psalm 77:11-12 tells us to specifically remember and ponder all the amazing things that the Lord has done in that endeavor.

In the season of the lull, make this the vocabulary of your life. Keep reminding yourself and others about the miracle God has done. Bask in the wonder that God did it and that He wanted. you to be a part of it. Recount that God came through.

Don’t evaluate right away. When you are at an emotional low, that is not the time to think about all the things that need to change or that went wrong. Just dwell on what God has done.

Anticipate the Attack.

On the way down the mountain, the enemy is going to attack. When Jesus was led into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights, he fasted the entire time…by the time he was finished, he was hungry! He was exhausted, physically drained, and had fought to be with His Father. He came out completely filled with the Holy Spirit. The enemy waited to come and tempt him until he knew he was stretched the thinnest. Luke 4 discusses this in detail. Always be aware that the enemy is out to tempt you. In Luke 4:13, it says that Satan left, waiting for a more opportune time.

If you don’t anticipate the attack, you’ll put yourself in some really scary positions. It is not good to be alone on the descent because the enemy is coming for you.

In 1 Kings 18-19, we see Elijah, through the power of God, destroy all the prophets of Baal. Then under the unbelievable unction of the Holy Spirit, outran Ahab’s chariot back to Jezreel. When he arrived there, Jezebel threatened to kill him. Elijah became afraid and ran. The man who just saw a massive miracle found himself on the run because he didn’t anticipate the attack.

We ready ourselves for the moment, but usually, the enemy is waiting on the backside to launch his attack when we are physically, emotionally, and mentally weak.

Pray Backside Prayers.

Many times, we get a major prayer offense going. We have multiple people praying for the same thing at the same time every day up until the event. However, once it’s over, does everyone stop praying? That’s when you need to be ramping up! Continue to pray for at least 30 days after. When you are going up the mountain, you can see every step in front of you; it’s staring you in the face. On the way down, you’re facing out and much more vulnerable. There’s no falling up. Once you slip, you’re falling down, and you’re gone.

James 5:16 says that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Philippians 4:6-7 talks about how we don’t need to be anxious about anything, but we can bring our requests to God, and His peace will guard our hearts and minds.

Prayer is powerful! It is so important to have intercessors that are on the backside that are powerful and effective. They can pray that peace takes over you and the team. They can ask for things according to God’s will. You can rest assured that the prayers are heard.

It is also critical that you, yourself, partner in prayer as well. Engage with the Holy Spirit during the vulnerable aftermath so that you can be filled with peace and ask for protection over your heart, mind, and emotions.

Celebrate Rest.

Instead of jumping right into the next big thing, it is imperative to embrace a time of doing nothing. Isaiah 30:15 says, “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.”

God was telling His people to rest, and they were refusing. It was to their detriment. God calls us to rest. There is a time for everything, a time to work, and also to sit back for a bit.

Celebrate rest. Create space and give everyone grace. Do absolutely nothing so you can rest and recoup emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. One comp won’t cut it. No, this takes time. The time needed is directly correlated to the size of the summit.

Delay Big Decisions.

After you work so hard and complete something massive, you are not in the position to take on a massive life change. So, if you can, delay big life decisions. Let the rest happen, let the recalibration happen, let your heart refill to full, let your emotions balance, let your spirit recover, and then, when you have clarity, you can ask God what the next step is.

You will eventually be in the position of a clear and sober mind, with a healthy perspective and Godly counsel that will help you navigate the waters of a big life decision, but you have to give time for the dust to settle and the smoke to clear so that you can see clearly and understand fully all that is involved with that decision.

Psalm 37:7 says to be still before the Lord and wait patiently on Him. By doing this, you are giving room for recovery.

Celebrate others. This is your time to think about all the ways you can champion and celebrate others who helped make it a reality.

Great things require great thanks.

Don’t just do this one time as a group immediately after. Take weeks to do this and make it personal. When everyone is doing this, everyone has the same mindset and getting refilled. This means everyone…it doesn’t matter if you knew exactly what they did, if they weren’t on your personal team if you weren’t in charge of them: if they were a part, they get celebrated. This means in their lull, as they are getting attacked by the enemy, you are speaking truth into their life and championing everything they’ve done to make it to the summit.

Paul did this constantly. Ephesians 1:16, Philippians 1:3-4, and Colossians 1:3 all reference him thanking God for these believers and explaining why with specific reasons for each recipient.

Celebrate others and call the best out of them.

Stay around others who are close to the awe. Things turn so fast. Relational tension will strike, criticism will pop up, and people will start gossiping just days after you’ve seen a miracle. Remember the Israelites we discussed on day two? Have nothing to do with it. You want to stay focused on what God has done and worship him. Push away all the naysayers for a season and keep company with those still in awe two months later.

A beautiful example of this is found in Exodus 33:11. Moses encounters God in the tent while Joshua was there and witnessed it. Moses would have to return to lead the people, but Joshua found himself staying in the tent because he wanted to stay near to where God spoke with Moses face to face. He wanted to stay close to the awe. No doubt he and Moses had some conversations about this and encouraged each other never to lose the wonder of speaking with the God of the universe.

Stay low/Keep God high. Do not wave at people on the way down and try to take the credit that is rightfully God’s.

Why?

1. It doesn’t look good on you.
2. Nobody needs that. Stay as low as you can on the way down.

Human nature is to exalt ourselves. We ask and plead with God for a miracle, He does it, and we think, “Man, we did something amazing.” It’s so easy to want to prop yourself up, but it gives the enemy a bigger target to shoot at.

You want to be so low that no one even knew you were there. It’s called going out the side door. Slip away before you succumb to the praise. What if our mentality was, “I know the descent is tricky, and the main challenge of it is me. I know me.”

You win the descent by staying low and lifting Jesus high. Jesus did this all the time. He would do something amazing and then slip away. He would take the side door and find a quiet place to be alone with His Father. Jesus knew how to win the descent.