I wonder how often Moses felt alone.

I wonder if he felt alone in the basket in the river, moving away from his
safe attachment figures, his family.

I wonder if he felt alone as the sole Hebrew man in his Egyptian home.

Probably the only Hebrew man his age since the others were killed as
babies by Pharaoh.

I wonder if he felt alone when he fled Egypt and Pharaoh’s home, the only
family, the only reality he’d ever known.

I wonder if he felt alone when God asked him in a burning bush to return to
Egypt to free the thousands of Hebrew slaves.

If he felt it when he was the only one of thousands God would talk to, the
only one God entrusted with sharing His words with the people.

I wonder if he felt alone as the leader of those people.

The one who had to teach them the new laws of God, even though he
wasn’t comfortable being the mouthpiece.

Or when they were all coming to him in the wilderness with complaints,
asking him to not only lead, but also to make decisions for the people, to judge
between them.

I wonder how often he retired at night to his tent to put his face in his
hands and finally let the tears flow because he was so tired, so stressed.

But just because he may have felt alone, doesn’t mean he was.

Because God gave his mom favor with Pharaoh’s house, and they let her be
his nurse. He was no longer the only Hebrew in his home. He had his mother, the
very mother that would’ve had to see him killed if she’d not helped him escape in
that basket in the river.

Because God was with him from the beginning, and he promised to be with
him in Egypt when he returned to free the Hebrew slaves.

Because God didn’t ask Moses to lead alone. He empowered Aaron to lead
alongside him so Moses wouldn’t bear the burdens by himself.

And because God raised up Joshua to lead when Moses was gone.

But there are two specific stories about Moses that feel important to hear in
light of this.

The first is in Exodus 17. The Israelites were fighting a battle, and Moses,
Aaron, and a man named Hur were up on a hill. Moses, because God told him to,
held up his staff. It was only when he held it up that Israel would prevail. But if he
dropped the staff, Israel would begin to lose the battle. It says in verse 12, “But
Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat
on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands. So that his hands were steady until
the going down of the sun.” And the Israelites won.

The second is in the next chapter when Moses’ father-in-law comes to visit in
the wilderness. He watches as Moses had to sit and “judge the people from
morning til evening.” Jethro asked him about it, and Moses said they ask him
about God and laws and to judge between people. Here’s what Jethro says,
“What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear
yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.”
(Exodus 18: 17-18, ESV). Then he tells Moses to appoint men to help him.
Moses was never alone, but even when it seemed like he was, when he felt
like he was, he had friends and family to help. To pick up the load and carry it
with him. To be a companion for him. To tell him when he needed others to help.
To tell him he couldn’t bear those burdens alone.

We need people. More than maybe we’ll ever know.

We need community. We need friends. And companions. And people with
whom to walk alongside in life and ministry and work. We can’t do it alone.

We can’t bear our burdens by ourselves. We were never meant to.

We may feel alone, for whatever reason, like Moses might have felt
throughout his life. We may feel our burdens are too great to bear.

But though we feel it, we are never alone. We have a God who has promised
to never leave us or forsake us, and we have people. Maybe only a small
number, but we still have them.

Some of us tend to isolate when we are weary and our burdens are heavy.
Maybe we do it to protect ourselves. Maybe because we don’t trust anyone.
Maybe because we’ve always had to figure it out on our own. Maybe because
we’re scared to let others help.

But as Jethro told Moses, this isn’t good.

Because it’s too heavy. It’s too much. We can’t carry all the pain and
difficulties of life alone.

If this feels out of reach —having safe people around you who can help when
you’re not okay— I hope you’d consider finding a counselor. They can be that
safe person to help ease some of those burdens for a while, but they can’t be the
only one helping. They’ll help as much as they can, but you need community in
others, too, people who are actually in your daily life.

It may be tough to ask for help or support, but we won’t make it long without it.
The battles will crush us. The demands will exhaust us. The burdens will force us
to give up.

So it’s time. Time to be brave. Time to be humble. It’s time to allow someone
to join you and hold up your hands when you’re weary and finally find rest and
healing for your soul.