Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day. A fresh new start. A new beginning is upon us every..single..sunrise.. Have you ever worn yourself out trying to do it all, and be it all for everyone around you? If I am being totally transparent, this is one of my struggles. And like I said yesterday, the journey of the Israelites has so many lessons from God to us. It is filled with treasures of wisdom that we can use to clarify and bring order and understanding to our own journey.

It is still early in Exodus, the journey is new. They are living in the wilderness..The manna and quail are being served by the Lord as their daily provision, and at least some time has passed because Moses has become the mediator for the people. He is the central figure of authority and rule. The people are lining up to see him and speak with him so that he can settle their disputes. He is spending all day, every day working out the problems of the people.

In the midst of this, his Father in law, Jethro comes to visit, and he brings Moses his wife and two sons. When he arrives, Moses tells him of the miracles that God has done to deliver His people. Jethro is not an Israelite. He probably worshipped other gods and idols as was the practice back then. As he heard Moses’s story and he saw the provision of God, he immediately started praising God. He gave thanks and recognized God’s goodness. Our stories and our testimonies of how God delivers us and provides for us are important for us to tell and share so people can tangibly see the evidence of our good, good God.

Jethro, taking on the role of Father in law, then stays around awhile and observes what is happening and how Moses is conducting his life. Some things stay the same through the ages, and this may be one of them. Father in laws watch and often have input for us about how we conduct our lives, and Jethro has some excellent advice for Moses. Advice that we can use still today.

He tells Moses that he is doing too much, taking on too much, and trying to be everything for the people. He recognizes that Moses will not be able to sustain this lifestyle much longer. He tells him that he will wear himself out if he continues on without help. He then gives practical wisdom and instructions on exactly how he thinks Moses should fix his problem. He teaches him to delegate! He advises him to choose capable men from among his people, and assign them to groups of people. Then, when the Israelites have disputes, they can speak to those leaders first and only bring the big or difficult matters to Moses.

The thing with delegation and taking some responsibility off of our own plate and assigning or sharing it with others, is it involves trust and release of control. Moses had to select capable men who he trusted, and he had to be willing to release his control over each and every small matter and give that leadership to another. He was trusting that their ruling would be fair and reasonable as his were.

Moses was carrying more than what God had intended or assigned him to do. He took on too much and couldn’t see his way out. Sound familiar? Have you ever found yourself in a season that you felt overwhelmed and overburdened? Sometimes, we slip into these seasons and we can’t even see a solution or a way out. We need someone else to speak wisdom into our situation. Moses was open to the advice of his Father in Law and listened.

God has heavenly assignments and destiny for you, but He doesn’t intend for you to be everything to everyone and wear yourself out. Sometimes, we do that on our own. We pick up and carry things that are not ours to carry or they were ours to carry for a time, but now it’s time to pass the task onto someone else.

If this is you in this season, pray for clarification about what is yours to carry and what needs to be delegated onto others. Pray to see who is meant to lead alongside of you. Pray for trustworthy people to share in your role. Or begin to release control onto those who are already in your life asking how they can help. We can learn to say yes when someone asks if there is anything they can do. God is a God of order and peace. He will not call you to carry more than you can do. He will assign you to big, God sized dreams and He will equip you to get there, but He won’t pile burdens and roles on you that will wear you out.

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray for clarity to know what is ours to carry and what need to be released or shared. Lord, give us wisdom to know the difference and strength to delegate onto others their portion. Thank You for Your Word that is still so relevant and applicable to our daily lives. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Blessings to you today!

Vanessa Lynn