You may be wondering about the title of this post. What’s that all about?
What do mountaintop or sledgehammer spiritual experiences have in common? Can they be the same thing?
I don’t often share much about my personal experiences with the Lord here on the blog. I like to pray about and process them, which can take time. But I recently explained one such experience to a friend the other day. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish explaining the story. So, this blog post is an explanation, without going into the minute details that brought the experience about.
First, we’ll take a look at what I mean by a mountaintop experience and a sledgehammer experience.
What’s a Mountaintop Spiritual Experience?
The term “mountaintop experience” in Christianity is a metaphor for a period of intense spiritual joy, revelation, or heightened awareness of God’s presence. This is a moment or a season of spiritual “high” where a person feels particularly close to God. As a result, their faith may be energized, and they may have a clear understanding of their purpose.
The key aspects of a mountaintop experience can include:
Intense spiritual closeness: This is an intimate sense of God’s love, comfort, and presence. These experiences often feel like what Psalm 16:11 describes: “In Your presence there is fullness of joy.”
Moment of revelation/clarity: The experience can be a time where spiritual truth becomes profoundly clear, a direction for life is affirmed, or a difficult situation gains a new perspective. This echoes Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Desire to stay: Like the Apostle Peter, who wanted to build tents on the Mount of Transfiguration, people often desire to stay in that glorious moment, away from the struggles of daily life (Matthew 17:4).
Biblical roots: The metaphor is drawn from several biblical accounts where significant encounters with God happened on mountains, including:
• Noah: after the flood, the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat, where God made a covenant with Noah (Genesis 8:4; 9:8–17).
• Moses on Mount Horeb/Sinai: Moses saw the burning bush, where God spoke to him (Exodus 3). He also received the Ten Commandments on this same mountain (Exodus 19–20). (Note: Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai are the same mountain).
• Elijah: the prophet Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, demonstrating God’s power (1 Kings 18).
• The Transfiguration of Jesus: Peter, James, and John witnessed Jesus in His divine glory on a high mountain (Matthew 17:1–8).
The Valleys & the Plains
Another part of the mountaintop experience comes with the “valley and the plains.” The valley represents the struggles, suffering, temptations, or deep doubts we experience in this earthly life. It’s the opposite of the high, where faith may not be as strong. Psalm 23:4 captures this: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”
The plains represent ordinary life, which includes the routine, day-to-day experience. This is the place where faith is lived out. It’s where we may not experience motivational highs or lows. It’s in the plains where it can be challenging to maintain our Christian discipline and focus.
One more essential note on the mountaintop experience—it’s not meant to be permanent. Instead, this deep spiritual experience is intended to be a source of strength and affirmation. The mountaintop is where we are equipped for ministry and faithful living in the valley and plains.
What is a Sledgehammer Spiritual Experience?
A sledgehammer spiritual experience is another metaphor Christians use to explain a powerful, sudden, and often painful intervention that forces a radical change or spiritual breakthrough.
Unlike the gentle, comforting nature of the mountaintop experience, the sledgehammer is a forceful tool for destruction, demolition, and breaking things down. That sounds dramatic and painful, but these experiences can sometimes be both.
Here are some key aspects of the sledgehammer spiritual experience:
Forceful demolition: The experience is perceived as a massive blow that breaks through the walls of denial, pride, self-sufficiency, or comfortable sin a person has built over time. It shatters old, unhelpful ways of thinking or living. This reflects Jeremiah 23:29: “Is not My word like fire… and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”
Sudden, unavoidable clarity: It delivers truth or realization with overwhelming force. It can be the sudden, undeniable realization of one’s deep need for God, the wrongness of one’s path, or the breaking of long-held stubborn resistance.
Crisis or hitting rock bottom: A sledgehammer spiritual experience often happens during a crisis, a devastating personal failure, a major loss, or a period of intense suffering. Hitting rock bottom is often what opens the heart to transformation—much like Psalm 34:18 reminds us, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.”
Biblical roots: The metaphor is rooted in Scripture in several ways:
• Destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah: God unleashes divine destruction on these cities for their wickedness (Genesis 19).
• Ezekiel’s visions: God uses Ezekiel to communicate His message to Israel. Ezekiel’s prophecies were a “sledgehammer” meant to break through rebellion and call Israel back to God. (Ezekial 1; Ezekial chapters 40-48). God used other Old Testament prophets for this purpose.
• Job: The Book of Job describes Job’s experience with devastating losses as a test. Eventually, Job has a significant spiritual encounter with God, who reminds Job of His power and sovereignty (Job 38-42).
• Jesus calming the storm: Jesus calms a storm with His divine power, creating awe and holy fear among His disciples (Mark 4:35-41).
• Peter sinking: Peter begins to sink when he takes his eyes off Jesus. His desperate cry, “Lord, save me!” leads Jesus to immediately reach out His hand (Matthew 14:22-33).
The purpose of sledgehammer spiritual experiences is not merely destruction, but reconstruction and transformation.
Removal of Obstacles
Such an experience breaks down the walls that prevent us from receiving God’s grace or moving forward in faith.
Creating a New Foundation
Just as a physical sledgehammer clears old rubble to make way for a new building, the spiritual sledgehammer clears the way for a healthier, stronger spiritual foundation built on genuine faith (Isaiah 43:19).
While the mountaintop experience offers comfort and affirmation (the spiritual high), the sledgehammer experience offers conviction and necessary correction (the painful breakthrough). Both are essential parts of the spiritual journey.
Can a Spiritual Experience Be a Mix of the Mountaintop and the Sledgehammer?
Yes! A spiritual encounter with God can be a mix of the mountaintop and the sledgehammer. Rather than having completely separate events, they often occur in rapid succession or are intertwined in a single transformative moment.
The sledgehammer breaks down, and the mountaintop reveals the path for rebuilding, often happening simultaneously.
The Interplay of Breaking and Building
The combination of the two metaphors describes an experience where intense conviction (the sledgehammer) immediately leads to profound clarity and grace (the mountaintop).
Convicting Revelation
This is the most common form of the blended experience. The spiritual “sledgehammer” is the conviction of sin, self-deception, or deep error. This conviction is painful and crushing. It demolishes the old, faulty self.
• The sledgehammer moment: realizing “I’m deeply wrong” or “My life is broken.”
• The mountaintop: the immediate realization that, despite this brokenness, God’s grace, forgiveness, and love are still available. This brings relief, joy, and clarity.
Psalm 51:17 fits this well: “A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
Radical Conversion Experiences
Many radical conversion stories blend mountaintop and sledgehammer experiences. A person may hit rock bottom (the sledgehammer) and, in that same experience, encounter overwhelming love and redemption (the mountaintop).
The Transfiguration
Even the classical biblical example of the Transfiguration has a sledgehammer element. While Jesus was gloriously transfigured on the mountaintop, the disciples were terrified and overwhelmed (Matthew 17:6). Their comfortable view of their teacher was shattered (sledgehammer) by the sudden, awesome revelation of His divine nature (mountaintop).
In essence, the blend is about experiencing holy awe—the simultaneous feeling of deep inadequacy and total acceptance, along with God's deep love.
My Own Experience
The experience I was sharing with my friend was a mix of both the sledgehammer and the mountaintop. For many months, I’d been praying about a particular matter without receiving an apparent answer or an answer I accepted.
A couple of months ago, I was laid flat by a severe allergic reaction that caused my asthma to go entirely out of control. I had to stay in bed for a time to allow things to settle and heal. I was pretty sick.
During this physical breakdown, I pretty much hit rock bottom spiritually, emotionally, and physically. I desperately prayed for guidance on that particular matter again, asking God to clearly show me His will, and I eventually drifted off into a fitful sleep. During that time when you first come awake (I call this the twilight time) is when God reached out.
The Lord took me on a mini life review and said, “Look around you. What do you see?” This experience was filled with a deep love that I have no words to describe. Yet at the same time, He showed me that the answer’s been right in front of my face the entire time. I didn’t choose to act on it, thinking I knew better and that maybe that’s not what God wanted. My immediate response was to ask for forgiveness, saying that I would be obedient to what He showed me.
The entire experience was a sledgehammer and a mountaintop spiritual experience at the same time. Was it necessary? Well, I believe God chose this moment because I was desperate and the most willing to listen to Him. He didn’t cause the allergic reaction or the asthma trouble, but God used them to bring about good into my life (Romans 8:28).
Before this experience, I had been listening but doubting what He was showing me. So, I made my choices based on what I thought the Lord was asking of me, or choices that somewhat seemed to fit what He was asking me to do. You could say I was also being stubborn and rebellious.
I believe this spiritual experience was very positive, but my rebelliousness made it necessary for God to use the allergic reaction to reach me. I was desperate and willing to hear the Lord’s answer in that moment, even though I had prayed for His response before this. I wasn’t truly ready to be completely obedient until I was pretty sick and desperate.
God Speaks to Us All the Time
Over the years, I’ve learned that God speaks to us in many ways. He may speak to us during prayer time, Scripture reading & studying, through people around us, nature, and so much more. There are so many ways He tries to communicate with us. The problem is that we’re not always willing to listen, or we need to learn how to listen.
For these reasons, God may decide to use a challenging time to get us to “wake up” and hear what He has to say. That challenging time may be a financial crisis, a sickness, the loss of a loved one, or more. Our Lord doesn’t cause these issues, but He does allow and use them to reach out to us (2 Corinthians 1:3–4).
Does that mean that every difficult time we experience will be followed by a sledgehammer/mountaintop experience? No. God determines when and how to speak to us.
But what I do know is that He’s reaching out to us every moment of every day. We just have to stop and listen (Psalm 46:10).
My Confession
Was I really obedient after this experience? Yes, but I still took my time to be obedient. That time was spent in discernment, prayer, Bible study, etc. However, I have to be honest and say that I was also a little hesitant. That’s OK, up to a point. Beyond that point, God may choose to let us stay where we are. The result is that we miss out on the many blessings He has for us.
Can’t He bless us where we are? Yes, but if God asks or tells you to do something, it’s best to move on it. Don’t wait (other than praying and discerning whether the message is from God or not). I put myself through some unnecessary doubt, etc., when I didn't obey right away. This stems from my own stubbornness. Eventually, I did follow through on my promise to obey.
The result of finally being obedient has been a relief for my spirit and my life. I don’t want to go into all the details, but it’s a deep spiritual matter. I can say that moving forward in obedience is having a very positive impact on my life.
Concluding Thoughts
This post is the result of not being able to finish telling the entire story to my friend. I would ask them to understand that this experience wasn’t some glorified spiritual mountaintop experience. God wants to speak to each of us in this way and through more “normal” means that aren’t so dramatic.
Our Lord used this mixed sledgehammer/mountaintop experience to help me clearly understand what He has been telling me for some time. If I had been obedient in the first place, He might not have used the allergic reaction this way.
So, while I’m very thankful for this experience, He used it because I wasn't listening or acting on what He was showing me. God used that allergic reaction to help me see clearly what He wanted and that it was time to be obedient. It was filled with love, but with urgency as well.
I don’t understand the urgency, but that’s OK. I don’t have to understand everything right in the moment. Sometimes, our spiritual journey leads us on unclear paths. What I know for sure is that God is ahead of me, lighting the way (Isaiah 42:16). He’s not led me astray yet.
God bless,
