Today's Devotional Thought
May 15, 2015 by Wendy Foreman
Hold Their Hands Up
Do you ever feel tired and weary?
As we read today's verse we see that Moses is holding his hands up while Joshua and his men are in a battle with their enemies. As we read on in the scripture we discover that as long as Moses holds his hands up, Joshua and his men are victorious. But if he puts his hands down, they begin to lose. Aaron and Hur come alongside Moses in his tired state and help him by holding his hands up. They become an encouragement to him. They are what I like to call friends who are standing in the gap.
Do you have someone like that in your life or are you that for someone else?
The truth is this life is tough. We will find ourselves and those we love in a battle weary state at some point on this journey. When we find ourselves there do we have an Aaron and Hur in our lives? A friend or friends who will be standing in the gap? Are we that for someone in our lives?
This past January, my husband and I celebrated 21 years in ministry. It is hard to believe it has been that long. I remember that first Sunday like it was yesterday. I was 23 years old and so young. I grew up in the church and was excited at the possibilities of ministry. It was our first youth group and the kids were awesome. We loved them like they were our own. We spent so much time with them. We loved on them, taught them, counseled them, went to many graduations and watched them grow up, oh the adventures.
As we continued on in ministry, my husband went to seminary and received his Master's (this was some weariness all its own) and then on to Baltimore where he accepted the position of Youth Pastor and later Associate Pastor and it was there I witnessed the weariness of ministry in my husband. These verses about Moses and Aaron and Hur holding up his hands when the battle was raging took on a very personal meaning for me. I began to understand that one of my roles as a Pastor's wife was to hold up the arms of my husband in many different ways as he ministered to so many people, from youth to senior adults. I have seen him walk many different paths in our 21 years of ministry, counsel many people, been mistreated, misquoted, and betrayed by those he has called friend. Yes, he has faced many things, and as his wife I can say that he has continued to be a man full of integrity. What he is in the pulpit, he is out of the pulpit. As his wife and partner in ministry I will continue to love him and support him by holding up his hands in this battle when we know there is much more work to be done.
Today I am writing as a Pastor's wife and may I encourage you to pray for your Pastor. I am challenging you to be willing to help hold up his arms so that he can do all that he needs to do to lead God's church. No one ever sees what I see: the prayers, the tears, the concern and immense love that he has for those he shepherds. This isn't just a job to him, this is his life.
I am proud to be a Pastor's wife. I am married to an incredible man who loves God and has dedicated his life to serving others. We have been on a wild ride these last 21 years in ministry, but I can say with all my heart I wouldn't change one moment of it because it has truly been a blessing to serve God's people and to do it all with the man he blessed me with almost 23 years ago.
December