Delegation

 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?"

Exodus 18:14 ESV


This verse is part of one of the most significant chapters in the Bible about delegation. Moses was doing the best he could judging the disputes of many thousands of Israelites. Clearly, however, as one man, there was only so much he could do.


Thankfully Moses' father in law Jethro came to visit, and perceived the problem. Of course, it's a shame that none of the Israelites thought of his idea. But often it takes someone from outside of a situation to be able to see problems and find solutions.


Jethro could see that Moses judging Israel from dawn til dusk wasn't sustainable. But he didn't just spot a problem. Thankfully he came up with a solution too.


Jethro told Moses to appoint responsible men over different units of people. In this way, more minor disputes could be filtered out before they reached him, and Moses could simply deal with the most serious cases. Even though Jethro doesn't seem to have been very orthodox spiritually, Moses was willing to learn from him; and we should be willing to learn from anyone who has our best interests at heart.


'Lord, when we're overwhelmed by work, please help us to delegate, and not to crack under the pressure. Please don't let us delude ourselves that everything depends on us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen'

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