When I Grow Tired

Exodus 17:12  "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."  NIV


In one of my Bible studies recently, we talked about Moses and how his friends held up his hands so that Joshua could win the battle against the Amalekite army.  God had told Moses to take the staff and go stand on the hill over the army of Joshua.  What He didn't tell Moses was that as long as Moses held up his hands, the army would win.  As soon as Moses hands started to droop, the battle would begin to swing the other way.  Moses was already a little ticked off at the people because they had begun to murmur against God's rule again.  He had asked God what he was supposed to do to stop the murmuring.  I am sure that he felt frustrated and angry because the people refused to see what God had done for them. There was probably a little bit of self in Moses anger because of all that he had gone through on behalf of the Israelites.  I am sure he was more than relieved that he had friends who would stand beside him to help him follow through with the Lords commands when he started to get weak or think only of himself.


I would imagine that there were some in the crowd who were quick to point out the mistakes that Moses and Aaron had made during the time they had left Egypt.  I am sure that on more than one occasion one of their children asked why they should follow the rules if their parents had not.  It occurred to me that as parents and as Christians, there are always those who want to point out what we have done that wasn't on the "approved" list of activities.  We often feel like we can't hold up our hands any longer.  As we begin to droop, our lives begin to swing the other way.  We see the battle raging around us and we feel helpless to do anything on our own.  We often feel like we are standing alone against the world, our arms falling to our sides.


At this point, we have to come to the understanding that we are not alone on that mountain top.  When our life choices leave us standing alone, when our family turns away from us, when our battle is seemingly lost, we need only turn to our God to have help holding our hands up.  He will send angels to hold up our arms.  He will lighten the weight of the burden we carry. It is most important during this time that we seek His forgiveness and His light.  It is also important to surround yourself with like minded Christians.  For they are the ones that will hold up your arms when you are weary and weak.  


 When we feel that we are doing everything that God has asked us to do, when we feel that the hands we raise to heaven are barely holding on, when we wonder why we are walking with the Lord when everyone else is walking away, including our children, just remember that we are doing what God asked us to do.  It may not make sense.  It may seem like we are wasting our time.  More than anything else in the world, we may feel all alone against the world.  But I promise you that you are not alone.  There are hundreds of thousands of millions of us around the world who are here to help hold up your hands.  Just as you are to hold up mine and hers and theirs.  We need only speak the words.  Out loud, in our hearts, or onto a prayer site on the Internet.  We are all called to stand in the gap for our fellow Christians.  When you can't pray, I will pray for you.  When I can't pray, I need only ask and many will pray for me.  The prayers of many are powerful.  The prayers of those on behalf of another are powerful indeed. You may not see the reason for raising your hands to heaven.  You may not understand the pain of aching muscles and tired bones.  But there is a battle to be won and we are called to raise our hands to our God and we are promised victory for our side.  Ask for help or ask who to help.  It matters not to God.  He only wants us to ask.