Appreciate the Strength of the Hurting

“And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office.” (Nu 3:2-3 AV)

While reading this, I couldn’t help but empathize with Aaron.  The LORD was gracious in giving four sons who would follow him in his life’s calling.  They would share in the ministry of the tabernacle.  He had the great privilege of going to work with his sons.  They would share in the responsibilities of the day.  Sometimes, they would be on different schedules, but they would all share in the family business.  That is, until the two oldest offered strange fire.  While during their service, God struck them dead.  It was right around Passover.  Aaron was deeply distraught but was required to keep Sabbath anyway.  Moses rebuked him for his sorrow, but in the end, gave Aaron leave to express his mourning even though it was not allowed under the circumstances.  It would be hard enough to bury two sons regardless of the circumstances.  But to bury two sons who died because they failed in what the LORD called them to do has to be even more difficult.  It cannot be easy experiencing the deep loss which Aaron experienced. 

I guess what really struck me was Aaron had to go on.  Even though, deep down inside he was hurting, Aaron had to go to tabernacle.  He had to go by the spot where his sons lost their lives.  He had to deal with that disappointment every day of his life.  He had to wrestle with what might have been instead of what was.  He did all this while still ministering to the people of Israel with the right spirit.  He could not allow his personal loss, regret, and sorrow show itself to those to whom he ministered.  He had to keep all that inside and deal with it in private.  He could not allow himself to be anything less than what the people needed even though he was falling apart inside.  He had to endure that others might overcome that which he himself was experiencing.  They might receive quicker healing while he had to go to God alone for his comfort and guidance.  Aaron would never be able to be as proud a papa as he could have been.  He had two sons who made that impossible.

I imagine meeting Aaron.  What would I say to him?  How would I approach him?  Even more so, how much would I appreciate his sacrifice for me in the sense that he selves all his own emotional injury that he might help me along in my own battles of life?  Aaron had many faults.  He could not control his own spirit and he did not have enough internal strength to stand up to the people.  He folded like a cheap napkin when the people wanted a golden calf or his sister challenged the authority of Moses.  Aaron was not as strong as Moses.  Some might callously throw stones at Aaron; blaming his poor parenting; making a statement such as, “what did he expect seeing he didn’t parent them right”.  Unless you have walking in someone’s shoes, you will never understand all that goes into the circumstances which we so casually observe.  I don’t know what other applications to make other than we need to appreciate what others go through and admire their strength to be a blessing to others.  Perhaps we can strive to be a little bit like Aaron and put our own hurts aside, no matter how deep they might be, and realize others need to encouragement almost as badly as we do.  The LORD has given me a newfound respect for this man.  Yes, he made some serious mistakes in his life.  But he also showed great resilience in ministering to the needs of others while he gave his hurts over to the LORD.