Burden-Bearing

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

This morning, I pondered the story in Exodus 17. The Israelites are fighting. Moses stands on a hill with the staff of God in his hand. As long as his arms are raised, Israel prevails. When he lowers them, Amalek prevails. Moses’ arms grow tired. He cannot hold them up alone. So Aaron and Hur take a stone, put it under Moses for him to sit on, and hold up his hands, one on each side. So, “his hands remained steady till sunset,” and Israel wins.

This is burden-bearing in real time. Moses does not ask for help. He simply cannot continue. Aaron and Hur do not offer advice. They do not pray from a distance. They get under his arms. They hold him up. They find a practical solution: the stone to sit on so he can keep going.

The battle is won not because Moses is strong enough but because his community refuses to let him fall. The miracle required human collaboration. God had the power to hold the staff up himself, but he invited Aaron and Hur into the victory.

While Moses held the staff of God to ensure victory, it was the hands of his community that kept him from failing.

Aaron and Hur willingness to be physically inconvenienced became the conduit for Israel’s survival.

This challenges our modern impulse to offer help from a safe distance; a text message, a “let me know if you need anything.” Real burden-bearing gets under the weight. True burden-bearing requires getting “under the arms” of the exhausted rather than offering help from afar. It requires proximity.

Aaron and Hur found a rock. Burden-bearing is rarely glamorous; it’s often about doing the mundane, boring thing that the exhausted person cannot do for themselves. Sometimes holding someone up means bringing a meal, watching their kids, or sitting in their physical space so they aren’t alone.

There are lots to reflect on here!
My prayer is this: Lord, give me the eyes of Aaron and Hur to see fatigue before it is spoken. Give me the humility of Moses to sit on the stone when I cannot stand. And give me the stubborn love that does not let go until the sun goes down. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Kay Alli