Godly Wisdom – Unlikely Source
I am pleased to report that Debbie is doing much better and today seemed like a “normal day.” Thank you for your prayers. This morning I visited the Greeley Wesleyan Church to listen to the testimony of Congressman Ken Buck. I enjoyed the service and Congressman Buck did an outstanding job sharing about his battle with cancer and how his faith guided his decision to run for Congress. (Picture above is one taken with Congressman Ken and Rep. Perry Buck last summer)
On the way home I met Debbie at a Chinese restaurant in Windsor. I found the “fortunes” in our cookies interesting. When I read mine it said, “It would be good for you to maintain a low profile for now.” I said, “if I maintain a profile any lower than I have, I will be nonexistent!” So I did not accept that as “from the Lord.” Debbie’s said, “opportunities surround you if you know where to look.” Then I realized we just had ours mixed up. So we traded!
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY… “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”…“What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you…. Exodus 18:14,17-19
The Lord called Moses and empowered him to become the leader of His people. Moses learned the secret of hearing and obeying God’s voice. The burden and responsibility of leading the people of Israel was a great burden. This passage gives some insight into the day to day needs of the people and the demands on Moses. It appears that Moses was functioning like a department store “Santa Claus” with a line of people out the door waiting to have a few moments of his time.
Moses’ father-in-law comes to visit him and observes what is taking place and quickly asks a simple question, “what are you doing?” It may have been obvious to Jethro what Moses was doing, but the questions seemed to be designed to get Moses’ attention. It ended up being more of a question of “why” are you doing what you are doing?” Jethro points out to Moses that what he is doing is not good for himself or for the people. Moses was wearing himself out and frustrating the people.
Jethro gives him the well known advice to create a structure where faithful, capable and honest men are given responsibilities over groups of thousand, hundreds, fifties and ten. This created shared responsibility for the people and handling the issues that arose among them.
This practical and important advice was wisdom shared the Jethro who was known as the “Priest of Midian.” The Midianites were not followers of the Lord God and would eventually oppress the Israelites in the days of the Judges. However, it became evident to Jethro that the Lord God was God above gods, and submitted his life to the Lord. It was after this that he observed Moses in the judgment seat and offered his advice.
Some observations of importance for our lives and our organizations that we lead: Sometimes it takes “fresh eyes” and someone from the “outside” to observe our operations to point out what we don’t see. Often we don’t realize the way “we are doing things” is not only bad for ourselves, but for others as well. Moses as a leader showed that he was open to the insight of others. Remember, this is the man that God talks to! But this is one example of the “meekness” of Moses that God commended him for. This account shows the leaders main responsibility is to train and empower other leaders. And finally, we see that this advice came a source that we would not have expected.