Heavy Hands

Over the last several months, many of you know that I have taken up the sport of running. Granted, I’m not sure that how I do it qualifies as a sport, but nevertheless, I run every day. I’m not real sure how far I could run if I tried to run for distance, but I imagine I could make it three miles or so before I gave out (by “gave out” I mean die of a heart attack!). Seriously, every morning when I begin my run, it never fails that the hardest part of the run is the first half mile. It is in this mile that my legs hurt, my lungs hurt, and every part of me seemingly wants to give up. This is when I am reminded that there are others who are running alongside of me and they encourage me to keep going.
We need those kind of encouragers in our lives don’t we? We need those people that we know are going to be there for us to help us make it through. Moses had those kind of people. We read about them in Exodus 17: 8-16. Their names were Aaron and Hur. This is the story.
Amalek had come to Rephidim to fight against Israel. Moses told Joshua to gather some men to go fight against Amalek. He said to Joshua, “Tomorrow (while you fight) I will stand on the hilltop with God’s staff in my hand.” Aaron and Hur went to the hilltop with Moses. The Bible tells us that as long as Moses held up his hands that Israel prevailed, but when he put his hands down, Amalek prevailed.
If that is the case, why in the world did Moses put his hands down? The answer comes in verse 12. It says, “Moses hands grew heavy.” The same way that my legs get heavy when I run in the morning! Moses needed others to come alongside him and help him hold his hands up and to encourage him to keep pressing on. That’s where Aaron and Hur come in. They held Moses’ arms up and God gave them the victory!
Life grows heavy, doesn’t it? The reason is because rather than fighting for each other, we spend way too much time fighting with each other. We fight silly fights. We need to make sure that we are fighting the fights worth fighting for! Fight for your marriage. Fight for your children. Fight for your church. Fight for your neighbors.
We can’t do this alone. We need each other. I need you. Pastoring a church is heavy work. It gets difficult at times and I need you to come alongside me. Come alongside me with your prayers, with your help, with your encouragement, with your witness. Especially you men. In a funny sounding way, we need all of our “hims” to be “Hurs!”
As you go through this day, think about those who in a spiritual sense and even a literal sense “lift up your arms.” Also, identify right now someone that you can lift up as well. Maybe send them an email or make a phone call or send a letter or card in the mail. Pray for them right now. When we lift each other up, God will fight for us for He is none other than Jehovah Nissi-The Lord Who Fights For Us!