16:3 - The grass is always greener on the other side, right? The past is always better than the present, right? Wrong. Human beings are quite the unsatisfied lot. When we get to the other side...we find out there are brown spots there too. When we think about the past we gloss it over and think only of the good while forgetting the hard times. All the Israelites can think of is meat pots and bread...guess what? YOU GUYS WERE SLAVES! How easy is it for us to think back to simpler times when we weren't as committed to God and think...man, back then I could do whatever I wanted to do and I didn't have to stand against the cultural tide - that was so much better. EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT YOU WERE A GUILT RIDDEN SLAVE TO SIN!
16:28 - You would think the people would begin to learn...maybe we should do what God tells us to do. It seems so ridiculous and it is so easy to look down on the Israelites and think of them as spiritual morons, but...are we that much different? We know what is right, don't we? All the time - we know what is right, we know what is expected of us, but we keep screwing it up. I remember Paul from the New Testament saying, "I keep doing what I don't want to do, over and over!" Laws cannot save us. Our human will cannot save us. Thank God for the gift of His son Jesus Christ.
18:14-15 - This is the first biblical instance of the Messiah Complex being lived out. Moses felt like he was the only one that could lead the people. He felt like he was the only one who could save the people from themselves...he was micromanaging and destroying his effectiveness as a leader. Jethro called him on it.
18:21 - This is a great court system that Jethro sets up. If the lower judge can't figure out how to solve the problem, he can take the case to the next guy up and so on and so forth. That way Moses only has to deal with a few huge problems as opposed to every single problem among the millions of Israelites.
18:23 - Jethro is the very first leadership training guru. He basically tells Moses - if you try to do everything yourself, you will burn out and be useless to everybody. Delegation breeds endurance and long-term effectiveness. In your Christian life, you can't do everything...you can't save everybody...find out how God has gifted you and use those gifts to impact His kingdom in the biggest way possible. Work from your strengths and allow time for rest.
6 comments:
16:12- to me it seems like God said these words purely for us to read. Its like God is saying "Take in what I have to offer and you will know that I am the one true God."
I'm like the israelites alot. Whenever I stop sinning or do something for the Kingdom of God I always expect instant gratification and it turns me into this sort of lukewarm person- simply existing neither for bad or good.
Good thoughts Matt
Its so hard to simply trust that God is taking care of things. Alot of the time I don't know my place. I want to be a servant, a giver, and a leader for Him but I just hate not knowing the plan, ha.
I can see answers in both sides of these chapters. The Isrealites ignored what they were told and didn't try at all to follow God, which is wrong, but Moses then took on too much and was only depending on himself to hold up the laws God had made. That too is worng. We need a steady belence between faith in what he is doing and motivation to do what we feel He is asking us to, and knowing that we can't just push on alone, just like Brandon said Sunday about community.
Yay for Kim!
18:23 I feel like Moses sometimes, when Jethro was like "DUDE,YOU CAN'T DO EVERYTHING ALONE!!" People say that to me a lot... I really need to stop trying to fix everything. I know that I can't, I guess I just want to change people so badly that I forget that God is the only one that can do that.
16:3 I also struggle with "The grass is always greener" concept. I have to constantly remind myself that God has put me in the situation that He has put me in for a reason. So that I can shine His glory through the trials, and not just look for the light at the end of the tunnel... But praising Him even in the darkness.
This is so fun having so many good comments...thanks everybody. I like hearing your unique perspectives!
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