Being Steady

Exodus 17:12 – 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, and one on the other – so that his hands remained steady till sunset.”

The Hebrew language in Scripture has multiple words that translate to faithfulness.  One of them is ʼemuna, which means steady or reliable.  Jewish scholars give weight to the first use of a word in Scripture.  It’s reasonable to assume this term would first be used to describe God, but oddly that’s not the case.  We see this word first appear in Scripture as Israel is fighting against the Amalekites.  When Moses held up his arms the Israelites would surge in battle, but when he lowered his arms, the Israelites would begin losing ground.  Moses was an 80-year-old man at this point.  Imagine how exhausting it was for him to keep his arms raised as the battle went on for hours.

This passage in Exodus is pointing out that being reliable and steady is not about projecting strength and powering through.  Instead, it is associated with acknowledging our limitations.  There is a vulnerability in showing weakness in a society that values strength.  It takes faith to trust that the strength will come from somewhere when needed.

The solution for Moses was to have two people hold his arms up.  This allowed his hands to remain steady or [faithful] until sunset.  Faithfulness is not a solo assignment. 

Isaiah 40:29 says, “He gives strength to the weary and power to the weak.”  We certainly can find strength in God, but there is also a communal part of faithfulness as well.  We participate in other people’s faithfulness by encouraging and supporting one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

Is there someone’s arms that you can hold up today?  I invite you to consider this prayer.

God, your word says that your steady faithfulness extends to the skies.  I thank you that you call us to faithfulness but don’t expect us to power through on our own.  I pray that you will share your strength with me and that I will share my strength with others.    

-Mitzi Myers