Moses- The Friend of God- Part 8- Involving Others

Introduction

Tonight’s message will be somewhat of a continuation of the them of last week’s message dealing with the battle with the Amalekites and Aaron and Hur’s contribution to the victory that was won.

In the passage before us this evening we find Moses’ father in law observing the goings on in the camp of the Israelites and offering some valuable counsel to Moses which would serve to increase his effectiveness and extend his ministry.

There are some important lessons for you and I in this passage of scripture as we see Moses respond to Jethro’s wise counsel.

A Troubling Situation (Vs. 13-16)

In the beginning of this passage we find Moses sittinig in judgment over the people alone.

From the early morning hours until the late hours of the evening Moses is dealing with the questions the people had concerning God and His commandments to them.

He was constantly dealing with the conflicts and the questions of the people each day and it was he alone who was called upon to provide an answer in every situation from the simplest of issues to the most complex.

Imagine for a moment being the only source of counsel and resolution for several hundred thousand people!

Imagine how taxing emotionally, mentally, and physically this must have been on him.

It is not hard to imagine that by the end of the day Moses was completely exhausted and the stress and strain of these demands must have worn on him after dealing with them day after day for such an extended period.

It is never healthy when we are attempting to go it alone. God intends for us to cooperate and collaborate so that all of the strain and stress of ministry is not carried by one lone indidvidual.

There is no question that Moses was overextended but it seems that at this point he had not yet considered the unhealthy nature of the current system.

This is when Jethro provides some...

Wise Counsel (17-23)

As an outside observer it was easy for Jethro to see that the current system was not good for Moses nor was it good for the people.

This wise counselor helped Moses to see the reality of the situation. How we ought to thank God when he sends to us wise counselors who can see what we do not.

He warned Moses that to continue in this pattern would cause him to “wear away” and his effectiveness would be reduced and his ministry would be shortened.

There are many believers who attempt to go it alone carrying all the weight of minsitry upon themselves and many times this leads to what we might call burnout after bearing the load alone for an extended time they lose effectiveness and grow weary and ultimately decide that the weight is to great.

Had Moses continued to carry on after this pattern in all likelihood the strain and burden of the demands of the people would have been to great for him to bear and as we say “something has to give.”

Jethro not only identifies the problem but also offers up a solution. Sadly there are some believers who are particularly adept at identifying problems but who never make an attempt to offer up a solution.

Jethro provided a way forward for Moses which would correct the problem to allow him to remain effective and to extend his ministry.

He encouraged Moses to continue to go to God for the people but he also counseled him to involve others in this ministry.

He encouraged Moses to teach the people and to provide instruction that would serve to guide them as they lived their lives.

It has been said that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” and that is essentially Jethro’s philosophy.

Many of the issues and conflicts that Moses was dealing with day to day could be easily resolved or avoided altogether if he would teach them the ordinances and laws to observe.

Pastors provide a great deal of counseling from the pulpit in the regular messages given to the congregation and if we will respond to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word we will often be able to avoid the need for personal counseling sessions.

Jethro also encouraged Moses to train up leaders from among the people who would be able to share the responsibilities which had been Moses’s alone.

He would search for able men, who feared God, men of truth who hated covetousness and he would raise them up to oversee smaller groups of the people so that only the most serious matters were brought to Moses for judgment.

This would lessen the burden that Moses’s himself would have to carry and would give him the liberty to be able to be far more effective in ministry and to endure well beyond what he would have under the current workload.

He even encouraged Moses to bring the matter to God to be certain that this was what God would have him to do.

This is a pattern that proves incredibly effective in any context, especially that of the local church.

We must recognize that it is unhealthy for any one person to labor alone under the burden and strain of ministering to people and we are much more effective when we cooperate and collaborate with one another.

We must invest in teaching and training others so that they may become involved and even lead in ministry.

A Wise Response (Vs. 24-27)

In the end this wise counsel could have been rejected and Moses could easily have taken offense at his father-in-law’s diagnosis of the problem of the current pattern.

Far too often pride hinders us from being receptive to counsel and prevents us from recognizing issues that could easily be corrected.

Moses was a man known for his humility and he immediately implemented his father-in-law’s recommendations.

He was willing to admit that the current system was not effective and that some changes needed to be made.

He was willing to involve others through teaching and training them and raising some up to positions of leadership to help bear the burden that he had carried alone.

Undoubtedly this system proved to be much more effective and took a great deal of weight off of Moses shoulders.

Moses taught the people and equipped them to resolve many of their issues and conflicts themselves and then he placed the men he had chosen into positions to judge the small matters that could not be resolved while he was still available to judge in the more difficult matters as needed.

In the end Moses was certainly relieved and the people were likely far more satisfied with the new system than they were with the old.

Conclusion

There are some valuable lessons here for you and I.

We should never attempt to carry all the weight of ministy alone, God intends that we share the strain and burden with others to lighten the load.

We also learn that God will often send wise counselors to us to reveal a problem that we may not recognize and to provide a solution to correct it.

We must be receptive to constructive criticism and willing to acknowledge when what we are doing is not working that we may find a solution to continue to be effective in ministry.

Often our pride may limit our receptivity but we must be willing to humble ourselves and listen to the counsel of others.

It may be that we find ourselves at times in the position of Jethro as a counselor who has identified a problem but let us be careful not to be just problem spotters but to also be solution givers!