Behind every great man/woman,………….

The passage we are looking at today is Exodus 17:8-16 and here it is in its entirety for you to enjoy –

 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua,“Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”
So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 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. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.”
Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. He said, “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”

It’s a good one, isn’t it? All very Game of Thrones. This is the first time we see Joshua playing an active role and we get a sense that there is more to come – God urges Moses to make sure Joshua knows that God will win the final victory. This is not the end of the battles though…….the war will continue and each battle will have to be faced and fought but the final victory has already been secured……just like in our lives then.

Joshua is on the frontline actually fighting, but Moses role is crucial too. This passage is often used to encourage us to pray for others – in fact, we talk about lifting others up to God in prayer, as Moses lifted up his arms to God. We have a tradition of weekly Intercessions in church, where we pray for the world, our country and its leaders, the church and those known to us who are in need….but how often do we lift people up to God in prayer on our own time? Our church is following the work of the Reverend Canon Andrew White, one of God’s reluctant superheroes, serving God faithfully on the frontline in Baghdad. The internet is a wonderful thing for providing us with up to date news, videos etc to aid us in our praying. We cannot explain prayer or how it works or how it seemingly does not work on occasions but we have to believe it matters.

So as long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, they started to lose……..this was a vivid picture provided for the people that the power of God was actually making a difference. They presumably needed to see this, to be able to remember this for generations to come, to know the significance of the name given to the altar built in that place – ‘The Lord is my Banner’. I, however, am very uncomfortable with formulaic prayer in general……

‘If we get fifty people here praying tonight, then God will hear and answer’ – really? what if only 49 show up because one has a sickness bug and cannot leave the toilet? is the event then a complete waste of time?

‘If we have a week of 24/7 prayer, then God will make his will known to us’ – really? how do you know? what if someone falls asleep on their shift? has the whole week then been in vain?

‘If I fast, my prayer will mean more’ – really? mean more to you or to God? Is that how he works?

Of course, I’m not saying these things are not good and right and important in their own way and time…..but I do not feel we should be making formulaic statements about prayer (unless we are totally sure we are having a ‘Moses and the Amalekites’ moment) because God is God and He will not fit into any of our boxes and nor should He.

OK, onto the main point of today’s blog –

‘Behind every great man, there’s a great woman.’

We all know the saying. Some of us like it. Some of us take offence. I would just add a saying of my own –

‘Behind every great woman, there are a couple of great friends.’

Because in my experience, women do friendship better than men. Women find the support they need from their friends. They get it. They know how to depend on each other. How to be real and admit when they feel weak and accept help. My man is not great at this, nor are most of the men I know.  Moses got it – he allowed his friends to support his arms so that he could hold them up until sunset. The men I know would rather struggle alone. They would not want to appear weak. They would choose to construct a support out of wood for their arms rather than let their friends support them. (if any of you out there feel this is a little unfair, please feel free to comment!)

And so when the going gets tough and women turn to their friends, men stoically stand (and sometimes fall) alone. So last Sunday after a particularly difficult couple of days (read ‘A volcano in  my tummy’ if you need filling in), my husband admitted after the service that he was a little jealous that my besties had surrounded me and delivered some much needed hugs. It made me sad. He doesn’t know how to be supported (or how to support others I’m guessing).

On 13th December, 2001, I got a phone call. I had six or seven women sat around the table in my dining room, drinking tea, eating cake and discussing the Bible. It was someone from Social Services. We had been foster carers previously – although the worst foster carers on record because we had only fostered once and had ended up adopting her! We had no plans of continuing to foster –

Helen, we’re desperate. We’ve had two babies born today that need to be taken into care and we have nowhere to put them. All our places are filled. We wouldn’t have called if we weren’t desperate. What do you think? Will you please accommodate one of them? It will just be for Christmas – six weeks at the most……..

I rang my husband. I discussed it with my friends. They said ‘Go for it! We’ll support you. We think it’s a wonderful thing to do and we will be here for you.’

Little did they know thirteen years on, Jordan would still be here and that I would still need their support and need them to be there for me. I seriously couldn’t have done it without my friends holding up my arms at times. And it is a precious thing – to allow yourself to admit weakness and be supported by others. Some people find this really really hard – they want to be the one that is always there for everyone else – but there is a blessing that comes with feeling the love and care and support of other women in your toughest, darkest moments, believe me.

So look around and see if any of your friends need your support right now. And look inside and see what support you need right now. And do something about it.