Armour Bearer

This last weekend we were blessed with a guest in our home... a Navajo Indian Missionary, Terrance Calvin.  What a joy it was to have him visiting with us and fellowshipping! He preached a fiery message on Sunday and (no surprise here) it was amazing!  JUST what I needed to hear!  Probably what lots of people needed to hear.. God had a funny way of doing that- you think He is just talking to you, when the finger is being pointed to a dozen other people as well ;)
Mr. Calvin's message was on being an armour bearer.  There are countless stories in the Bible about men and women doing God's work, but behind just about everyone of them there was a helper.  A "bearer" of tasks, there to be a help-meet.  In the Old Testament there is a story about Moses and the battle of the Israelites and the Amalekites.  He had a staff in his hands, and they were stretched upward towards the sky.  When he kept his arms raised, the Israelites won the battle.  When he tired and they fell, the opposing army won.  So two men came and each supported an arm- they knew that it was God's plan for Moses to be the bearer, but they could help him out.  (Exodus 17:11)
Another story tells us about Jonathan and his armour bearer.  Jonathan would go out into battle and after taking a man down, his helper would be right there behind him making sure they were finished off, or handed him a different weapon; he made sure that everything was perfect.  Because of this loyalty, Jonathan trusted his armour-bearer with his life.  (1 Samuel 14)
It goes the same for a husband and wife.  It is a team effort, and when one of the players is out of sync, Satan wins.  Marriages are torn apart, lives are dashed upon the rocks.  WOMEN.... we are to be our HUSBANDS armour-bearer! We are to lift them up and treat them as a king.  We were created to be his help-meet.  Marriage was not meant to be a battle- to tear down one another with word or actions. It is a union of hearts, mind and body- working TOGETHER for the common goal. This DOES NOT mean that we are to be treated as a door mat, quite on the contrary!  The Bible tells men that they should love their wives as themselves! We need to be their "armour-bearer" for their tasks at hand.  I have seen countless women give up a life that is familiar to them to follow their husbands into the missionary field, plant
a new church, follow a new job direction- or any other kind of "wild goose chase" that may occur.  These women are following- fuss free- to be a help-meet to their husbands!
We are to be an armour bearer for our pastors as well! These men of God go through so much in life and where would they be without encouragement?  Their spirits fall just like any of us, so why don't people support their pastors? It is a day to day battle and someone has to fight it.. so just like Moses holding up the staff... we need to support their arms in the spiritual war.  It is God's calling for them, but we can be the beams that hold the roof up :)  We can be the ones to volunteer to clean, or teach Sunday School every now and then.  Anything to help with the ministry.  Nothing is ever to little or small of a task. 
Mr. Calvin's message was touching.  On so many levels.  Children helping their parents, wives helping their husbands- either way you look at it, there are so many ways that we can be armour bearers in our lives!