Keep Those Hands Up
He'll know when you need help.
In Exodus 17, we learn that the Amalekites attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.
This is after God had Moses deliver the Israelites from Egypt and the people, hungry, thirsty, and tired, are growing bitter and resentful, asking, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” (Exodus 17:3)
So things are tense, you might say.
When the Amalekites attack, Moses asks Joshua to take some men out to fight, while he goes to the top of the hill with the staff of God (vs. 9).
As fighting ensues, Moses holds his hands up, and verse 11 tells us that “as long as he kept his hands up, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.”
Then in verse 12, we see that Aaron and Hur, who had accompanied Moses to the top of the hill, hold Moses’ hands up when he can longer do it by his own strength. They hold his hands up until sunset and Joshua and the Israelite army overcome the Amalekites.
Earlier in the chapter, when Moses asks God what to do with the people who have grown weary and violent (vs. 4) God tells Moses to take the staff and strike a rock, which will allow the people to drink (vs. 6). So while it’s not written, we can assume that God gave Moses similar instructions when the war broke out.
Moses heads to the top of the hill with the same staff and then holds his hands over his head, which in turn supports the Israelite army in their fight.
What I like about this story is that even though God gave Moses clear directions and he followed them, God also put people with Moses who would help him.
Could God have given Moses superhuman strength to hold the staff up above his head all day? Sure. But how much more powerful is it to see these men work together to carry out the will of God? To all believe that God will follow through on his plan and to know they were a part of it.
Sometimes God asks things of us that are difficult. Things that we might doubt our abilities to do. God knows what we are capable of, and it is often more than we think, but he also knows when to put people in our path to help us do the impossible.
Similarly, there are times when we might see a friend or family member going through something extremely difficult. We want to show up and be able to say the exact right thing, to give them the exact right gift, but maybe God put us in their lives at that time to simply help them hold their hands up. To remind them that they are not alone and God is still at work in their lives even when things are incredibly dark.
We can think about this story in a lot of different ways, which is what makes it special.
It encourages me to listen for God’s call, to look for friends in need, and to trust that even if I find myself in a seemingly impossible situation where my (perhaps figurative) arms are tired, if it’s God’s plan to keep my arms up, he will put people in place to help me do it. Isn’t that amazing?