STEADY
May 12, 2022
Prayer: Lord, I thank You for the friends that encourage and hold me up in my time of need. I ask You to show me who could use a steadying word today. Thank You. Amen
Scripture: 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’s 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. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. Exodus 17:10-13 NIV
When you plant new trees, it is important to protect them from all the elements until they are well established and strong. I live on a hill that has the Rocky Mountains on one side and the plains on the others. We get some substantial wind every day and wild storms blow in from all directions. The wind comes up unexpectedly and usually gusts between 20-80 mph.
My metal deck furniture goes sliding across the deck and into the yard regularly. So imagine the difficulty of planting a new tree—tall, thin and with shallow roots. We had to pound stakes deep into the ground around it and then secure straps around the tree in several places and connect them to the posts. No matter which way the wind blew, the tree was protected.
I thought of all of you during this process—comparing how prayer groups act as the posts helping to hold you up when the troubles of life come blowing up from all direction, just as Hur and Aaron helped hold up Moses’s arms during the Amalekite battle “so that his hands remained steady” and insured victory for Israel and Joshua.
Hopefully you are part of a prayer group and you can take turns lifting each other up in love, encouragement, and prayer. Think of a time when you were held steady by others who were praying for you. What did your prayer group mean to you? Can you see that there have been times when you gave and times when you received?
My prayer for you is that you would face the storms together.
Copyright Kathy Branzell. To connect with the author, email [email protected]
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