Exodus 17:8-17:16 -- Staying Focused on God

Exodus 17:8 At Rephidim, Amalek came and fought against Israel. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Select some men for us and go fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with God’s staff in my hand.”
10 Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought against Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 While Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but whenever he put his hand down, Amalek prevailed. 12 When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat down on it. Then Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. 13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his army with the sword.

This was the first battle the Israelites had to fight after they left Egypt.  Joshua was told by Moses to choose men and go and fight.  Joshua obeyed.  Moses went to the hilltop and held up the staff of God, and as long as the staff remained in the air, the Israelites could push back the other army.  If Moses put the staff down, the other side began to win.  Aaron and Hur went with Moses and supported his arm when it became tired to the staff could stay in the air at all times, so the Israelites would be victorious.

Exodus 17:14 The Lord then said to Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua: I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven.”
15 And Moses built an altar and named it, “The Lord Is My Banner.” 16 He said, “Indeed, my hand is lifted up toward the Lord’s throne. The Lord will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Moses built an alter to the Lord there.  He had to keep his hand lifted towards heaven for the Israelites to be successful in battle.  He had to keep his focus on God.  When he needed help, his brothers helped him.  This is what we need in our lives today.  We need to stay focused on God.  When it seems too difficult to keep our hands lifted to him, we need someone to come along side us and hold our arms up to God, so we do not loose our battle.   We need to keep our focus on Him.  We will sometimes need help, and we should be humble and accept the help from our fellow believers.  Together, we can all help each other keep our focus on Christ so that we too can win the battle.  If Moses had not been humble enough to let Aaron and Hur help him keep his arm lifted, the Israelites would have surely lost or the battle could have taken much longer.  Moses could not keep his arms up long enough alone.  He became tired.  By allowing the others to help, he could keep his arm up for the victory to be won.

I seem a theme in my last couple of post of keeping focused on God.  It has been in the book I've read, the sermons I've heard, my daily devotions...  It has been everywhere the last couple of days.  I know God is telling me to be more focused on Him.  I need to keep my focus on Him and not all the everyday distractions I can so easily follow after.  Please pray for that for me.  Our church family is entering (or has already entered) a time of deep prayer, in which we are specifically praying for God to move in our midst and do great things within our church and community.  In order for us to do this successfully, the whole church must be focused on God.  We must hold each other's arms towards God and encourage one another to keep focused so we can do the things God would have us to do.  I have been attending all the meetings and while at church, Bible study, and in my devotions, I am very focused.  It is when those things are over that I tend to wander.  I need to stay focused all the time, not just when I'm participating in a "church" activity.