Aaron and Hur Holding Up the Hands

Moses' hands grew weary while holding the staff up during battle, so Aaron and Hur found a stone, sat him on it, and each held up one of his hands. The Israelites won as long as his hands stayed raised.

I spent fifteen years as an independent pastor trying to do everything myself. I held the vision, held the authority, held the responsibility. When I got tired - and I did, exhausted to the point of physical collapse - I interpreted it as spiritual failure. I should be able to sustain this.

Reading this, I realized I'd fundamentally misunderstood spiritual leadership. The ones who succeeded weren't the strongest individuals - they were the ones surrounded by Aarons and Hurs who understood that holding up the leader's hands was their sacred task. It took admitting weakness and accepting help to finally do effective ministry.