Praise in the Midst of the Battle
In Exodus 17, Moses climbed to the top of a hill with Aaron and Hur while Joshua and the Israelites fought the Amalekites. With his staff in hand, Moses raised his arms and saw the Israelites were winning. But when he lowered his hands, the Amalekites had the advantage. Soon, Moses’s arms were so tired, he couldn’t hold them up at all. So Aaron and Hur pulled up a chair for Moses to sit on (actually, it was a boulder), stood next to him and held up each of his arms until the Israelites won the battle.
I see that as a picture of what God wants us to do.
1. Lift our arms and praise Him when our friends are in a battle.
Yeah, I know. It seems counter-intuitive to sit back and sing songs when all hell is breaking loose. Seems more like we should be storming heaven’s gate and pleading God to intervene. Don’t get me wrong, there are also times for storming.
But consider the difference. Storming heaven’s gate sounds frantic, tense, fearful, and sometimes maybe even like we’re telling God what he should be doing. On the other hand, when we’re praising God, our hearts are centered on Him, the Lover of our soul. Our Creator. Papa God. We’re basking in love for Him and in His almighty-ness. There’s a confidence that comes from singing praises to Him and sitting back and just trusting that He’s got everything under control. That we don’t have to fix it ourselves.
My friend, Michelle, says the outcome of real trust is gladness and unconcern. When I really trust that God is handling my problems, I can take the day off, be glad, and not care about the issues because I know with certainty that He is working on my behalf.
2. Be in a community of believers and don’t fight any part of the battle alone.
Collectively, we are the BODY of Christ, created to work together. Joshua had his army fighting next to him, and Moses had Aaron and Hur helping him keep his arms raised to support Joshua and the Israelites. We all get tired and discouraged at times. That’s the perfect time to reach out to other believers. We need each other for support.
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