Steady hands
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
“As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.”
Exodus 17:11-12 NIV
Can you imagine being Moses, knowing that the battle was dependent on you keeping your hands held up? Can you imagine how he felt when he lowered his hands and the Amalekites began winning? I would have felt pressure, immeasurable pressure, and I think he did.
God doesn’t ask easy things of us: ministry in many ways is like having our hands held high; and yes, we all have the ability to keep them held up - until we cannot. That’s when you and I need Aaron and Hur to help us just as they helped Moses keep his hands steady until sunset. Sunset may mean till a brother or sister comes to Christ, or till you leave that particular mission field or country, till that season passes; but sunset can also mean the help we need to remain faithful believers till we sleep our final sleep or till Christ returns in His second coming.
We are created for community and relationships - to thrive in our small battles and big battles, we need each other, especially in our walk of faith. It is written
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:”
“If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
Ecclesiastes 4:10-12 NIV
These are not merely words, I have lived them in my own life. I have been and I am in a season that has entailed having members of the body of Christ help me up and currently I have people holding my hands up.
I wish to liken this to you being in the battlefield where the enemy army is being fought and after you sustain injuries your fellow army squad picks you up and takes you to the infirmary; where you get the necessary healing until you are able to go back to war.
Holding up another’s hands is like the migratory birds that fly in a V-shaped format, where birds take turns being in the front and falling back when they get tired and that way the birds are able to efficiently save their energy, enabling them to migrate long distances. We need each other, we need to be Aaron or Hur when the situation calls for it, but mostly we need to be humble and recognize our need to be helped.
Moses literally had to sit on a rock and allow Aaron and Hur to minister to him, and as they did so, the victory came to the Israelites and ultimately God received the glory. This is a true demonstration of what the body of Christ is like, it’s not a one man/woman show, the calling is bigger than any of us. The vision cannot be fulfilled by just one individual or one church. It calls for the collective participation of the whole body of Christ as opportunity arises.
Ask your sister or brother in Christ how they are doing, hold their hands up if that is what the situation calls for. That way, our hands/faith can remain steady till sunset.
Ask the Lord to show you people around you whom you can support in holding up their hands. What would that look like?
Pray for one another in your Hub or as the Lord leads
About the author: Ruth is passionate about helping facilitate healing for people lost in addiction. Through discipleship and counseling, she has seen many individuals in Kenya and elsewhere in the world find freedom in Christ. She is an All Nations field worker based in Nairobi, Kenya under the Kampala hub.
Ruth’s testament of Jesus’s victory in her own journey of healing from addiction can be viewed and purchased at https://amzn.to/2YF9ci0.
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