Give Me a Hand

“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. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.” Exodus 17:12-13

The situation was tense. The Israelites were on their long journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. They arrived at Rephidim, exhausted. Moses was peppered with complaints because there was no water. And now the Amalekites had arrived.

As Joshua led the troops against their adversary, Moses watched the battle unfold from the top of a hill. The Bible tells us in Exodus 17 that, as long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning the battle. Fortunes changed when Moses lowered his hands.

He was tired. Leadership of the Israelites and the journey itself had taken its toll. Sometimes it is just too much to even lift your hands. But the people needed him. Fortunately Aaron and Hur were with Moses. They found a stone for Moses to sit on and rest. They then lifted their own hands to raise Moses’ hands up until sunset. The battle was won.

We’ve all quit. The job is too big, too tough, too much to do alone. Sometimes you just need a hand.

JCBC’s day of service was last Saturday. We called it our Missional Outreach Saturday. Over 300 volunteers representing our church visited over a dozen work sites to lend a helping hand. A woman struggling to get in and out of her house needed a handicap ramp. Clothes and home materials needed to be sorted and prepped in Norcross. Hungry people walked some of the worst streets of Atlanta.

I happened to be here at JCBC. It was amazing to see the McAllister Community produce 500 lunches to take downtown. Choir and orchestra members cleaned up closets behind the sanctuary. The Maile/Phillips class and the Thomas class cleaned up five closets in our main education areas.

Like most places, JCBC doesn’t have an abundance of staff. Most days, our maintenance staff consists of one guy. The workday is typically filled with preparing rooms for the following day. There isn’t much time for projects like cleaning closets. Sometimes the guy just needs a hand…

Incredible joy happened on Saturday. A family cried because life around their house became a little easier. A man, cold and hungry from Friday night’s elements, enjoyed a sandwich. A maintenance worker at JCBC smiled because he could now find things in a storage closet.

And maybe we closed the day knowing just a little of our own effort raised the hands of someone else.

“Father God, thank you for the times you sent a helping hand to me. Give me the strength, vision, and enthusiasm to provide my hands to another when they are needed.”

Ed Rivers
Director of Operations
Johns Creek Baptist Church