It is a long passage today, that is why I put it as a link to read, but this is the part of the passage shared on Sunday that started my thought process.
📖 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he 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.
This passage is a literal picture of giving someone a helping hand. They actually held up Moses' arms so that Joshua's army would have victory. They gave him something to sit on, so he didn't become weary of standing. Very practical ways of assisting Moses in his task.
Do we see people around us who are weary? What can we do to assist them?
Shoveling a drive or walk way, carrying some groceries, opening a door, and the list can be as varied as the needs out there!
Of course the message on Sunday had to do with helping each other, but I kept reading and as I continued into chapter 18 it was another great example of "helping hands"!
📖 5 and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. 6 Now he had said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.”
Jethro brought Moses' family to him! What an encouragement for Moses! Something practical that he could do,
And then!...
📖 17 So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. 18 Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself. 19 Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God.
Then his father-in-law proceeded to give him, in detail, a plan.
📖 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”24 So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves. 27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way to his own land.
Not only did Jethro help and encourage by bringing Moses' family to him, he gave him practical, Godly advice that would not only benefit Moses but all the people!
Being a "Helping Hand" not only benefits the individual but can have a ripple affect!
It isn't always physically helping, it can be a kind word or words of wisdom, as Jethro called it "counsel". Advice, especially unsolicited advice, is something that WE think might help a person from our perspective; helpful sometimes, not always well received. But counsel, (in biblical use, the Hebrew 'esah ) adds purpose or plan to the definition. Something that has the receiver as the priority. I l JUST saw a post on Instagram that fits with being mindful of our "helpfulness".
But our words, no matter how well meaning, have to be backed up with action! It is the same with our faith.
📖 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
James 2:14-17
🙏My prayer for you today is that you can be someone's Aaron, Hur or Jethro! or that if you find yourself weary, that you allow others to come alongside to lift and hold you up. ❤️
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