I spent Labor Day weekend doing something I had never done before. Some friends and I backpacked the Tioga West Rim Trail. On Saturday we started the 30-mile-long hike along the western rim of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon and reached the end early Monday afternoon. The experience of the quiet, rhythmic steps through the fresh air, blue sky, towering trees and brilliantly colored wildflowers was beautiful, refreshing and renewing. And also really challenging. We each carried 30+ pound backpacks and the only way to the top of the ridge was, well, up. The terrain was uneven, breathing was heavy, and muscles ached. But we were in it together. When I felt strong and energized, it helped encourage the others and vice versa. We were there to encourage and hold each other up.
It reminded me of one of my favorite Bible passages found in Exodus 17:8-13. The Israelites were fighting the Amalekites and “as long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 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.”
I love this imagery. There are times God calls us to endure our own emotional and spiritual battles, but we are never alone. God is with us, but so are His children. When you feel you can no longer battle -- no longer stand or raise your hands -- we need other Christians to help us endure. As believers, through prayer and the power of Christ, we can hold hope and faith for others when they have exhausted their own reserves.
I’ve recently been struggling with being single and many days feel the heavy discouragement of still waiting to be married. The path is painful and it seems easier to give up sometimes than to be caught in the middle of desire and ‘not yet.’ As I expressed this one time during Bible study, a woman encouraged me, saying that when I lose hope of ever finding someone, when I can’t hold on to faith any more, that she will hold that hope for me. When I feel I’ll never be the one dressed in white, she will keep the image of me walking down the aisle on my wedding day. She would hold onto hope and faith when I could not. Through prayer, she would stand in the gap. My hands were weary from praying and asking and pouring my heart out to God. I needed rest and she came alongside me and lifted my hands for me. For me right now, it’s singleness, but we each have our own burdens and struggles. We need each other to make it through.
And while we are called to pray for each other and encourage one another, no human can be the sole source of our faith and hope. Only God can do that. When Moses’ arms were tired, God provided human hands to hold him up, and it was God who did the work of defeating the enemy and bringing the Israelites deliverance.
In our weakest moments, I firmly believe that God holds us and keeps us. When we can’t ‘keep the faith’ any more, He keeps us. He holds us fast. When your prayers are simple “Jesus-Help!” and you have nothing more. When you feel numb or feel pain. When your faith is still there but distant, made foggy by present circumstances. When you are weak and cannot hold on anymore, God is keeping you.
In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Paul reveals he has a ‘thorn given me in the flesh.” He has pleaded with God to take it away, but God replied “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” It’s not ‘our grace’ or ‘our power.’ God recognizes we don’t have endless reserves, and we need His grace and His power. This gives Paul the confidence to boast in his weakness, even desiring weakness: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” When we give ‘our thorns’ to Jesus, we really are at our strongest because His strength is so much more than ours. And He holds us up.
While traipsing through the woods there were times I tripped and almost fell over and moments when my mental and physical strength gave way. I needed the help of my friends to propel me forward to the beautiful views that awaited. In the same way, may we be faithful to hold each other up, with the strength given to us by God, until the day Christ Jesus brings us to glory. What a beautiful view that will be.
ABOUT OUR BLOGGER
Danielle (Dani) Rupp grew up in a small town in Ohio and is a true Buckeye fan, though she tries not to be obnoxious about it. In 2011 she came to Pennsylvania to earn her Master of Social Work degree. Dani returned earlier this year from South Asia, where she volunteered with International Justice Mission, learned to tolerate spicy food and cross the roads without being hit.
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