How to Overcome (Part 2)
Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in the midst of them.
And there are six of us gathered in one office. I am in the middle, Two on my right, two on my left, one in front. I tell them how I haven’t been sleeping and how I feel so beat up by the enemy. I share the depression, the confusion, the fear. I ask them to pray.
Sometimes the battle rages fierce, and you need people to fight with you. You need to know you’re not alone. You need people to pray with you.
I imagine Moses on the battlefield. An army of Amalekites thrashing swords against the Israelites. One man discovering that the only way to win the battle was to raise hands high in a posture of praise. The livelihood of an entire nation depending on the resolve of Moses to keep his arms up.
And I have my own small nation made up of an Addy and a Jed and one crime-fighting, studmuffin of a husband. And they depend on me. And my children might be an eternal source of joy, but it is my job to raise them up in the way they should go. My husband might be the head of our house, but I am the neck that holds him up. The proper posture of a woman is to always lift up—lift up prayer, lift up children, lift up husbands, lift up friends. We are the mighty, and our families win battles when we keep our perspective heavenward.
I imagine Moses standing there, arms up—the way his arms must have felt heavy, then cramped, then numb—the way he must have heard his arms begging, screaming at him to put them down for just one minute. Surely there would be no casualties in just one minute, Moses. Surely one minute wouldn't be enough to lose. You can always put them back up later.
And doesn't the enemy do the same to us, beg us to give into the fear, the frustration, the pain? Just once. Just for a little bit. It won’t cost too much. The Devil will work you a lifetime just to flip you once. He wants us to put our hands down, to focus on our problems, to gossip about the people that bother us, to worry about the lack of finances, to feel utterly helpless and alone.
And the best part of the story: When Moses was at his weariest, ready to give in, to give up, Aaron and Hur looked and saw their brother in need. For Moses’ tired legs, they brought a large rock for him to sit upon. For his tired arms, they gave him their own strength and held his arms up for him.
Moses kept his hands lifted, and the army of Israelites overwhelmed the Amalekites.
Yes. There will be battles. Yes. They will rage beyond what you are able to handle. Yes. You will fight with your praise, with your hands outstretched, surrendered to the One who is able. Yes. You will want to give up.
But, sister, you are not alone.
For when two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them.
This is church. This is community. This is the body of Christ.
This is for what we gather: to lift high the name of Jesus.
For when we hold up our sister’s or our brother’s arms, we lift up Jesus.
When our brother or sister is tired of standing, we take them the Rock—the very Word of God, our foundation. When our brother or sister is wavering, weary, ready to give up, we give our own strength to keep their hands held high. And we pray.
We need each other.
Because sometimes you find your mouth full of frazzled-momma yells over silly things like cheerios all over the floor, sometimes you feel so overwhelmed and set back by the changes in your life, sometimes confusion clamors so loudly so can’t make a clear decision, sometimes you just feel utterly defeated and completely alone. We need each other. We need our own Aaron and Hur. And sometimes we need to be an Aaron or a Hur to a brother or sister. This what church is for. And not some building that you attend once a week. Church. The body of Christ. A community of believers, an army of kingdom soldiers.
Bear one another’s burdens.
Now, tell us, dear brother or sister, is there anything we can lift up in prayer for you?
By Grace,
Amanda Conquers
By the Way: Should you want to read the story of Moses and the Amalekites, it’s found in Exodus 17:8-16.
Scriptures quoted: Matthew 18:20 and Galatians 6:2
