Word had been sent that Moses’ father-in-law was on his way, bringing Moses’ wife and two sons, who had previously been sent home to Midian. I find the picture of his arrival interesting.
“So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent. Moses told his father-in-law about everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the Lord had saved them.”
It feels warm, this relationship between Moses and his father-in-law. And almost like at last Moses has someone to talk to, to tell everything that had happened. A friendly face, someone who wasn’t just complaining. But the most interesting part is the way Moses’ humility is so evident. He is the man God chose to confront Pharoah and facilitate the exodus of well over half a million people from slavery. Yet, he sits with Jethro and tells him everything the Lord did, how hard it’s been, but how the Lord saved them. In other words, Moses made the story about God, not him.
I wonder if today, we have built a culture that is built more from the perspective of what we, the Church, have done rather than what God has done. One might think it is simply semantics, but culture has a way of seeping into our hearts, as we all know. Just a thought. I have a lot of those.
But I think the main subject matter of this chapter is that Jethro changed how Moses led the people. Through following his father-in-law’s sage advice, Moses took the load he carried and disbursed it among many different men. Needs were met more efficiently, Moses avoided burnout, and it just worked better all the way around.
We should have a Jethro in our own lives. Someone to tell us that everything can’t depend on us, that we aren’t alone so we need to stop acting like it all rests on our shoulders. We need someone to say stop being dumb and share the load for pete’s sake. Because I tell you what. There are too many people leading the Church today who are crumbling under a weight they weren’t meant to carry. And that turns into leading in the dark. Leaders who keeps things to themselves to minimize the risk of exposing their weaknesses or failings. They ask God for the strength to lead, forgetting that His strength is not meant to keep us from needing others. Going it alone is not the precedent that’s been set for us in scripture.
Jethro understood that if Moses did not share the load, it was going to harm both him, and the people he was leading. It was wisdom for then and it remains wisdom for us today.
We really are better…
Karla Jo Wasion 