SCRIPTURE: Exodus 17.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

11 As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage.12 Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset.13 As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle. Ex 17:11-13 (NLT)

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

It seems like we have grown the church into a place of employment for a professional to use his college/theological degree in teaching/preaching all the fancy stuff learned in his years of schooling/college. Let me quickly say that I am thankful for all the education and tools that are available to our ministers today, but when God chose Moses to lead over 1 million people out of Egypt, he was so surprised because of his low opinion of himself and his abilities, that he seriously questioned God to the extent that he wondered if God had made a mistake. In these verses we see where God used Moses to perform some miraculous stuff to help in the safety and protection of his people. The kind of relationship Moses experienced with God enabled him to quickly obey, no matter how silly his actions may have appeared to the people. The thing that challenged me here is that just how Aaron and Hur ran to assist Moses, in fact they were keeping such a close eye on him that they realized he would soon get so tired of holding up his staff that he would need assistance. So they saw the need, and they followed through in meeting the need, and lending support to their leader, their shepherd, their pastor. This is no different to our spiritual leaders today, in that those who are fully dedicated to God’s work, they give of themselves to the extent that they become burned out in the ministry and often create a separation in the lives of their own personal family. I believe that God expects there to be an Aaron and Hur in every congregation. When God’s appointed man comes to pastor a church, he needs the tender, but yet strong and consistent support of the Aarons and Hurs. Let us take note that as long as Aaron and Hur helped Moses to keep his staff in the air, God did His work, however whenever Moses became weak and his hand dropped, his people were jeopardized. That’s much like today, we (the church) must invite a man of God to lead us, but we must also be in the forefront as his support so that God can freely do His work in our midst. We often hear that a divided church is a weak one. Conversely, the strength of a church is in a congregation that stands behind their leader and always sensitive to his needs and willing to support him in accomplishing the will and work of God. Are you an Aaron or Hur, or are you a part of the people like Moses also had who sat back and used every opportunity to grumble and complain when things were not going exactly as they thought they should?

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, I see so much of You in us, but unfortunately I see so much of the attitude and actions of the Israelites in our churches today rather than the humble, caring, supportive teamwork that I see evident in Aaron and Hur. Please help me to be more like this duo and do my part each and every day to listen carefully to You, to see and understand the needs of my pastor and then to do something about his needs so that Your work may be accomplished. I pray that You will not only bless our current interim pastor, but that You would also lead us to the man You have prepared to pastor our church next. I also pray that You will make our leaders, especially myself, extremely sensitive to the needs of the ministry and our pastor so that we can be the support and encouragement that he needs to accomplish all that You have called Him and us to do. Lord, may we find not just a man well educated by today’s standards, but more so, one whose heart is fixed on You and who is called by You into Your ministry for Your church here on planet earth.