Inspirational Article From Joanne Lowe Index of Writings by Joanne Lowe on Gospel Web

A HEAVY HEART

“And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.”

Exodus 17: 9 – 12 King James Version

This is one of my favorite stories in the entire Bible. I imagine that Aaron and Hur got weary holding up Moses’ hands all that time but they were faithful to stay with him until the end to encourage and help him. O that we would be like Aaron and Hur to our pastors, to our Sunday School teachers, to our parents, to our children, to our spouses and to the world.

Every person has some kind of a heavy burden in his or her heart. It may be that the person has been praying for years for their family to accept Jesus as their personal Saviour and his or heart is heavy with this burden. We need to keep encouraging people and holding up their hands as long as necessary so that the burden won’t feel so heavy to them.

I received an email from a pastor a couple of days ago. The pastor was discouraged because no one said “Amen” during the preaching of the sermon. The pastor told me “I don’t know if I am reaching them or not. They don’t have any expressions on their faces. They just look at me”. Pastors, take heart; you are reaching them whether you see any evidence or not at the time you are preaching!

You may be the one that God is using to plant the seed. He may use someone else to water them but He is the one who gives the increase. We read in the Bible “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it (Isaiah 55: 10, 11).

Many years ago when I lived in East Texas, my pastor made a statement in his sermon that I laughed about but God used what he said to set me free from depression. Pastor Byron said “If you want to fly higher than a kite, start bragging on Jesus”. When he said that, I honestly thought he was crazy.

However, one day I decided to try it. I can’t put into words the feelings of peace, joy and happiness that filled my heart when I started telling people how wonderful Jesus is. I have never stopped bragging on Jesus since that day, and I never will until He calls me home or returns for us. I will echo my beloved pastor’s words because they are so true! “If you want to fly higher than a kite, start bragging on Jesus.”

We are only the tools that Jesus uses to accomplish His purposes. I think sometimes we try to fix people and that is not our job. Many times God can’t work in someone’s life because we haven’t trusted Him to take care of the person and fix the situation. We pray and ask Him to take care of the person but as soon as we say “Amen” we start trying to fix the person. We are to witness to people and love them, but only Jesus can change a person’s heart and life. We need to put our arms around them and hug them for Jesus.

We have the responsibility and privilege to be obedient to the calling that God gives to us. When God calls us to do something, He never takes the call back or changes His mind. We are the ones who get discouraged because of being criticized, judged and ridiculed. We are the ones who decide to stop serving Jesus. We made that choice, not Him.

If your heart is heavy today, Jesus understands because He too was criticized, ridiculed, judged and rejected. The sad thing about that is that He is still being rejected, criticized, ridiculed and judged. May God forgive us for not holding up the hands of our pastors and our precious Saviour.

Love your pastor; pray for your pastor and encourage your pastor as pastors need encouragement just like you do. Don’t forget to pray for your pastor’s spouse and family as they sacrifice a lot of things for you so that your pastor can serve you. Thank God for the faithful spouses who encourage our pastors. Are you encouraging and holding up the hands of your pastor? Are you encouraging Jesus and making His heart happy by spreading His unconditional love to everyone you meet?

Joanne Lowe

September 19, 2007

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