Share Your Burden

"The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. When 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?' And Moses said to his father-in-law, 'Because the people come to me to inquire of God and his laws.' Moses' father-in-law said to him, '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 18:13-18

Moses had quite the responsibility here. He had been entrusted with the whole Israelite nation. He was trying to take care of them, lead them, and guide them. So all day, every day, he would listen to their problems and questions. I just picture Moses sitting on a rock, with a line of people stretched out for miles who were waiting to talk to him.

Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, saw the problem: Moses was going to burn himself out, and the people would grow impatient, and rebel. The rest of Exodus 18 is Jethro's solution. Moses would represent the people before God, but he needed to find some Godly men who would be set over 10's 50's 100's, and 1,000's. They would handle some of the disputes, questions, and general burden of the workload.

I don't know about you, but delegation has never been my strongest trait. How often do we find ourselves burned out because we are trying to handle it all by ourselves?

"Bear one another's burdens, ad so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself." Galatians 6:2-3

It's not easy letting someone share in your burden, but don't deceive yourself into thinking you are the exception.God's plan was never for you to go it alone. But in order to fulfill this law of Christ, we need to let someone bear our burdens, just as much as we need to bear their burdens.

---Joy