The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands."So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and 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. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and makes sure that Joshua hearts it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven." Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. Exodus 17: 8-15
This past weekend, we had our annual youth retreat at our church. My husband serves as the Youth Pastor, and I am honored to work along side him. The week leading up to the event was STRESSFUL. We had leaders backing out left and right, not enough servers for food, anticipated rain for our outside portion of the weekend. Things were just not coming together. And to top it off, we also had personal and family things going on. Our water heater busted the morning of the day the event would start. My husband and I just kept looking at each other all day that Friday thinking, this is just not going to work. We were exhausted and defeated before we kicked off the weekend where we would just get more tired and stretched thin.
I actually walked into the church that Friday evening and told my husband I did not want to be there, and I wanted to go home and cry. But I was only staying because I knew he needed me.
Saturday night comes and the speaker called Greg up on stage in the beginning of his sermon and told him to raise his arms and keep them there. I immediately remembered this story from Exodus. I did not expect what happened next. It's been maybe 15 minutes and I'm walking around the back of the worship center with a crying baby. The speaker asks for someone to take the babe so I can join my husband on stage and hold up his arms. Y'all, my husband's arms are not light; he likes to hit the gym. And we stood there, for what seemed like 3000 years, but probably about 20 minutes.
What the speaker was using as an illustration for our students, ended up being a huge eye-opener for our roles as spouses and ministry leaders.
My husband and I have been talking at home about the importance of being a team on all fronts. As spouses, parents, friends, leaders, we need to be on the same page. We are a team. And this exercise taught us so much about our team tendencies.
It was hard for my husband to let me carry the weight of his arms. This is true of life sometimes. It can be hard as the leader of the household to let go of some of the responsibility and burden. He generally carries it all without complaint...not to look strong, but because he doesn't want me to be burdened. Though it is a sweet gesture, I am strong to handle it, to be a help-mate. I found myself telling him that it was okay for me hold his arms, that I truly wanted to ease his pain. The convicting thing is that I don't offer this rescue in our day to day. I often put more weight on him, setting impossible standards to meet and becoming bitter when I feel like I get the raw end of the deal, completely ignoring what he might have faced that day. I need to offer my help instead of my criticism.
As we were standing there, at one point my arms hurt so bad. I felt like I was going to throw up. Greg gladly took my arms and held them for me, even though he had been holding his up for much longer. Wow. What a humbling gift. My husband is so willing to support me in my dreams and endeavors, even after he has been going non-stop, self-sacrificing to love me like Jesus. He is my greatest cheerleader.
There were also times where we stood holding hands, leaning on each other to keep each other up. Oh, isn't this reminiscent of the hardest times we have walked together. When we have no strength but each others'. The Lord is so gracious during these times, kindly giving us just what is needed to make it through the day.
When the sermon was over, the speaker called our students around us to pray over us, out loud, to speak words of life, truth, and encouragement. Being in ministry is infinitely rewarding but equally tiring. We were filled to the brim with the words of our students and leaders pouring over us. The fullness of Christ is in His Body, the church! What a sweet reminder!
I cannot be more thankful for this demonstration and what it has taught us. God so perfectly timed this for our hearts. It has been a hard few months of spiritual warfare and heaviness and exhaustion. The Amalekites have been fighting against us. Some days we feel like winners, other days we don't. We have been so worn down, feeling like failures without enough energy to give ourselves fully to the Lord. Satan has been hard at work, but so has my Jesus. When we hold each other up, when we act like the body of Christ, when we lean on Him for strength, when we work together as a team, the victory is His. Our faith is strengthened despite the oppression. His Name is greater. The Lord is my banner.
All glory to Him.
-Kate