“And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.” (Exodus 17:9 KJV)
There is one very powerful lesson for the trainee that can often play havoc with a person’s faith. It is one thing to learn God’s word on our own. It is one thing to have to develop our level of faith on our own. What happens when another person is added into the equation? We are likely all familiar with the command to go and make disciples (see Matthew 28:19, 20). At some point each of us probably could use a little disciplining. What happens when we have to learn to trust a mentor who is in the middle of an exercise of learning to trust? The battle in this story was not necessarily against the Amalek. It was a faith that Joshua had to have that Moses would maintain a surrender to God.
Are there any lessons that we can learn from a mentor who is learning from God? How about lessons for the mentor? It certainly makes us a more conscientious mentor when it becomes our turn. Picture someone looking up to you while you are trying to get your bearings. It also teaches us the necessity of both grace and forgiveness. It may even weed out that which was of man verses what was actually from God. It certainly sharpens our listening skills. It may become obvious sooner than later that the act of going and making disciples really does goes way beyond spreading the good news. There is an opportunity to learn to love your neighbor in that practice. There may be no more practical way to learn how to trust than to find trust in someone who is learning to trust. The Lord certainly sees the effort.
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” (Exodus 17:14 KJV)