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. – Exodus 17:11-12

I had a different post ready to go this morning. The plan was to feature a couple of readings from my new book. I still may share it later, but for now – after meeting with the men’s group this morning – I have to take a new direction.

We were talking about strength. We looked at how we define strength, we talked about people we know who are strong, we shared thoughts around how we can become strong, we read a few scripture passages and I told a couple of stories.

My experience in the Bible study was, as always, both positive and encouraging. These guys inspire me.

Putting it in perspective:

Then, when I asked for some examples of strength, Sam Noble spoke up. “Twenty-five years ago today,” he began…

Of course! In that moment I realized how much of a newcomer I am here. Who among the other 25 men there this morning, I wondered, had not woken up with the devastation of Hurricane Floyd on their mind? I would imagine the answer is “none.”

Sam talked about some of the things he was involved in during the immediate aftermath of the flood.

“You seemed pretty busy,” I said. “What was your job back then?” It turns out Sam was Town Manager!

And as Sam talked I realized he was talking about strength exactly in the way I had wanted us to when I prepared the lesson over the past couple of days. Only I did not select the scripture or the topic or my questions with any hurricane or flood related thoughts in my mind.

But there it was, the Spirit at work. Always, the hand of God in everything we are up to.

Of course we talked about other examples, other situations, other ideas when it comes to understanding what it means to be strong as men committed to following the Way of Jesus. But it was Sam’s central thought, that of strength being the decision – essentially – to carry on, to put one foot in front of the other, to live, and to live in community.

We are all called to be strong, but we are not called to be strong by ourselves.

“Aaron and Hur held Moses’ hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady…”

Pictured below, the Tar looks none-too-threatening today – DEREK