Letting Go

Exodus 18:13-27

¹³The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. ¹⁴When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” ¹⁵And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; ¹⁶when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” ¹⁷Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸You 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. ¹⁹Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, ²⁰and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. ²¹Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²²And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. ²³If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.” ²⁴So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ²⁵Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²⁶And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. ²⁷Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.

One of the classes that I taught up until recently was our Wednesday evening Legacy class for ages 4-7. Those of you who know me are laughing out loud right now. Of all the places I belong in the world an early childhood classroom is not it. That was a situation of chaos and pain for me. I think the students were doing okay, but I was murderous by the end of the hour every Wednesday. Then, about a month ago, during a Bible study from Acts 6 about living in your purpose two very talented and gifted early childhood educators offered to take that class for me! And I said “no, thank you!” What in the world was I thinking?!? The next day, another member of the small group who had heard the offer called me out on my hubris. “Why did you say ‘no’ to that offer?” was her question to me. And it was a valid question for sure. I immediately realized I had made a critical error and set about to rectify that mistake. I accepted both of the offers I had been so generously given and today my life is so much better, both for me and for my little students. Sometimes we just need to be more self-aware and realize when we need help.

Moses finds himself in extremely difficult circumstances. He is the only judge and jury for a massive crowd of people. His father-in-law and new brother in the faith, Jethro examines this situation and offers up some wisdom; set up a system for adjudicating these disputes that doesn’t always involve Moses. It’s not a brilliant idea. It was in fact an obvious idea. But Moses was unable to see it through his need to be the care-giver of the people. He saw himself as the only voice for God that was available. I know the feeling and it is born from pride and stubbornness.

The application point here is glaringly obvious. What are you doing in your life that needs to be passed on to those who are better able to accomplish the task? I my case, it was pride and a desire not to put anyone else out that kept me in the wrong position. While I love each and every one of those kids I was not the best choice as a teacher for them. While Moses was indeed God’s man and able to hear God’s voice, there were others who were similarly gifted and able to do the job as well. Time to pry your fingers off of the control button and let someone else help you out! That was the clear message I received and I think that it is the same message Moses received. I also think that God was probably speaking through Jethro at that moment as well. The only task that could only be accomplished through one Person was the salvation of humanity through a brutal sacrifice. Jesus was sent to do that work and He has already accomplished it. Every other task on the planet has multiple people who are gifted to do the job.

There must be Jethros in your life as well; people who have the right to examine your activities and call you out on your hubris. I am grateful every Wednesday evening for the dear friend who observed this conversation and had the courage to say something about my mistake. God takes care of us even when we don’t see it happening!