The Word

Surrender Your Burdens

🌟 Scriptures 🌟

Exodus 17:11-13

11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 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, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

Mark 10:17‭-‬27 NLT

As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "Why do you call me good?" Jesus asked. "Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments: 'You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.'" "Teacher," the man replied, "I've obeyed all these commandments since I was young." Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. "There is still one thing you haven't done," he told him. "Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this the man's face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!" This amazed them. But Jesus said again, "Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!" The disciples were astounded. "Then who in the world can be saved?" they asked. Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God."

Galatians 6:2

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Psalm 55:22

22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

🗣️The Message📜

As humans if we do anything for a long period of time we will get tired, especially if we're doing a task by ourselves. Moses had the task of holding up his hands so that the Israelites could overcome the Amalekites. This seemed like a simple task but it wasn't, especially since Moses had to do this for a long time

Eventually, his arms got tired and he couldn't hold them up any longer, so Aaron and Hur gave Moses a rock to sit on and held up his arms until the Israelites won the battle.

This story reminds me of the race of life. There are many burdens to bear when you are following God. You are actively rejecting the world, rejecting the status quo, you're losing friends, and you're warring against sin, but God calls us to stand firm in our faith through it all. The race isn't easy and Jesus never said that it would be, but He did tell us how we would get through this almost impossible journey.

The story of the rich man is a good example. One day a rich man ran up to Jesus asking what he could do to inherit eternal life. He followed all commandments that Jesus mentioned, but when he was tasked to give up everything and follow The Lord, he went away sad because he loved his possessions more than he loved God and more than he desired eternal life. Afterward, when Jesus told His disciples the story about the rich man and the camel they were astounded and asked who in the world could be saved, they left everything to follow Him and they wanted to know if it was all for nothing. But Jesus replied and said with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Following Jesus may be hard at times and people may try to convince you that it's impossible, but if we submit to God and give Him our burdens we can do anything through Him. When Moses was dealt a task that seemed impossible for him, Aaron and Hur were there to hold up his arms. God sent Aaron and Hur with Moses up the mountain to help Moses if he needed it. Sometimes God calls us to do things that aren't meant to be done alone. God could have given Moses the strength to hold up his arms until the battle was won, just as He gave him the ability to stay on Mount Sinai 40 days and 40 nights without eating, but God gave him a task that he would need help with. Are we giving God our burdens when they seem to be impossible to bear, are we allowing others to hold us up when we can no longer stand? Or are we trying to carry that heavy load ourselves, a load we weren't meant to hold on our own? As a result of Moses being obedient and accepting help, the Israelites won the battle against their enemies. We cannot fight alone and we cannot win without God in this race of life. Give God your burdens and watch him work.