One of the fascinating stories of Moses is when the Israelites were fighting against the Amalekites in Exodus 17. In that story, God gave them victory when Moses kept his staff raised into the air. If it went down, the Israelites lost advantage and began to fail. But when up, they attained victory. Moses, however, was not able to do this on his own, for he had to hold the staff for the greater part of the day – all the way to sunset. Two others provided a stone for him to sit on and held his hands high to make sure that victory would be attained. This is the picture I imagine when I read Hebrews 12.
“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.”
Hebrews 12:12-17
These three concepts (drooping hands, weak knees, and straight paths for feet) are all metaphors for dependence on God. More specifically, they suggest actions to be taken to gain God’s favor spiritually. These are disciplines. Arms hurt? Raise them for God. That is a discipline. Knees weak? Strengthen them for God. That is discipline. Paths tripping you up? Straighten them out by God (Proverbs 3:5-6). That’s a discipline. The writer is suggesting something very sacred here – the transition between the concept of discipline and putting discipline into practice. Inviting it. And why? So that we may be healed. But notice, if we do not do this, we will be harmed. God’s discipline is coming. Will we be prepared for it? Like Moses, we find ourselves in a fight that depends on the lengths to which we will go to be obedient to God. If we do as instructed, we will be healed. If we do not, we will be overcome by the forces of discipline in our lives. Whether addiction, economics, spiritual trial or another circumstance, God is levying discipline to train us into the Image of Christ. He is giving us constant opportunities for transformation. Will we take advantage of them?
How are your hands drooping? How are your knees weak? What paths trip you up? What disciplines would set those struggles right? If you have never implemented spiritual disciplines before, may I just encourage you to test them out. get a feel for them. Prayer, meditation, service, Bible Study and all the rest, will have different relationships with your heart. Leaning in first to the more natural disciplines can be a nice way to begin, before one takes on something more out of character for them. For me, journaling was a terribly difficult disciplines to develop, while prayer and meditation is relatively simple (and Bible study even more so!). Begin small, and watch your wars be won in God’s favor.