Quick note here at the start - most people are interacting with these only via the podcast stream, or via the text. So there really doesn’t seem to be much point in making the video versions, and they require quite a bit more work. So I have decided to keep going on the podcast and the text versions, but to drop my video podcast.
There are seasons in life where you realise, often slowly, that you have taken on more than any one person can carry. You care for others. You try to solve problems. You try to hold everything together. And you keep going because you believe that this is what faithfulness looks like. But somewhere along the way the weight becomes too heavy and you do not even notice how tired you have become. Exodus 18 speaks right into that place. It shows us what happens when someone who truly loves God tries to shoulder more than God ever asked him to. And maybe this is the reminder you need today.
Exodus 18 (ESV)
Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. Now Jethro, Moses father in law, had taken Zipporah, Moses wife, after he had sent her home, along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom, for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land, and the name of the other, Eliezer, for he said, The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh. Jethro, Moses father in law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. And when he sent word to Moses, I, your father in law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her, Moses went out to meet his father in law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent.
Then Moses told his father in law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people. And Jethro, Moses father in law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses father in law before God.
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. When they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes 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. Now obey my voice, I will give you advice, and God be with you. You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.
So Moses listened to the voice of his father in law and did all that he had said. Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. Then Moses let his father in law depart, and he went away to his own country.
When Jethro arrives, Moses recounts everything God has done. The plagues. The Red Sea. The hardship. The deliverance. And Jethro rejoices. He praises God. It is a beautiful moment of shared faith. But the very next day paints a different picture. Moses sits from morning until evening listening to every dispute, every complaint, every burden. And Jethro sees something Moses can no longer see. The weight is crushing him. And it is crushing the people waiting for help.
Jethro says the words Moses needed to hear. What you are doing is not good. You will wear yourself out. The thing is too heavy for you. You cannot do it alone. And let’s be honest. Many of us need someone to say the same thing to us. Because sometimes we mistake exhaustion for godliness. We think that taking on everything ourselves is what it means to be committed. But Jethro gently shows Moses that trying to be everything for everyone is not faithfulness. It is a failure to recognise the limits God has placed upon us.
Notice something important. Jethro does not tell Moses to abandon his calling. He tells him to keep doing what only he can do. Moses is still to teach the people. He is still to intercede for them. He is still to lead them in the ways of God. But he is not meant to carry the whole burden alone. God’s people flourish when God’s people share the load.
And Moses listens. This might be the most remarkable part of the chapter. Moses is the man who spoke to God face to face. Yet he humbles himself and receives correction from his father in law. He does not defend himself. He does not justify his busyness. He simply listens. Wisdom listens. Wisdom receives help. Wisdom recognises that God often uses the people around us to restore us.
So what about you. What burden are you carrying alone that God never asked you to carry. Where have you convinced yourself that being overwhelmed is the same thing as being faithful. Who are the people God has already placed around you to help. And are you willing to let them. Are you willing to admit that you are finite. That you cannot carry everything. That God has not asked you to.
And remember this too. The gospel is the ultimate reminder that you do not have to carry the heaviest weight. Jesus carried the burden of sin that would crush any one of us. He bore what we could never bear. And because he carried that burden for you, you do not have to try to be your own saviour. You are free to ask for help. You are free to rest. You are free to be human.
Maybe today the next step for you is simply to admit that something is too heavy. And perhaps to let someone else step in alongside you. That is not weakness. That is obedience.
Prayer
Father, help us see where we are carrying more than you have asked us to. Give us humility to listen to the wisdom of others. Teach us to share the burdens you never meant us to bear alone. Turn our hearts again to the rest and the freedom that Christ has won for us. And help us trust that your strength is made perfect in our weakness. In Jesus name, Amen.