¹¹ As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. ¹² 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. Exodus 17:11-12.

As Israel battled the Amalekites, Moses held up the staff of God and interceded on behalf of Israel. As long as his hands remained up, Israel had success. But when Moses grew weary and tired and his arms lowered, the Amalekites would gain an advantage. It was then that Aaron and Hur came alongside Moses, one on each side of Moses’ holding up his arms until the Amalekites were defeated that day.

I have always been more of a “lone ranger” type; fairly introverted, self-sufficient, believing I can handle things on my own and certainly never asking for help from anyone even in the most difficult of circumstances. For the most part, I can say I faired okay in the past. But this personality trait is something that is not pleasing to God (it does have an air of pride to it) and He has called me out on this over and over again. Unfortunately, I have not come willingly and He has allowed for some difficult trials, I believe, in an attempt to bring me to the place I need to be (and I will admit that I still find myself fighting it.)

God never intended us to do life alone or on our own. He created us specifically for fellowship with Him and with others (1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 John 1:3; Genesis 2:18). God calls us to living life in common. That is what the Greek word kionōnia means – sharing a common experience of God’s grace in Christ. God calls us to serve one another (Galatians 5:13); to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2); to comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18). As if that were not enough to encourage us to seek each other out in a time of need, Jesus advises us, ¹⁹“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:19-20).

The fact of the matter is that we all need an Aaron and a Hur in our lives to hold our arms up when we become weary and tired and feel like we are in defeat. I personally have come to recognize this week that I cannot continue to go it alone. Now, I am blessed to have my own versions of Aaron and Hur in my life. And although I generally won’t call until I am at my wit’s end, I did call on them this week (okay I didn’t call them, but I did email for help – I am working on this). Amazingly, after setting out my case, my heartache began to diminish. Once I was able to release a little of what I was going through, I could breathe easy again. After receiving a word of encouragement, hearing “I found myself asking that same question when . . .,” the tightness in my chest went away and the physical symptoms that accompanied the overwhelming stress created by keeping things to myself, vanished.  I thank God for the patience and mercy He continues to show me. And I especially thank Him for those two persons He has placed in my life that I can count on to lift my arms when I grow weary.