Moses was a reluctant leader. He refused the mantle of God. “No,” he cried. “Not me, God. Send another.” Moses didn’t want to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
Maybe Moses had good reason. He’d lived in the palace, raised as a son of the king. His education was the highest quality in the land. He wore fine clothes, ate of the best food, and his word was near law. Then he killed an Egyptian who mistreated an Israelite and ran for his life.
He hid away for 40 years hoping no one would find him and make him pay for his crime. He didn’t want to return to Egypt. He was reluctant to face the pharaoh, to meet his royal “siblings,” and to be accused of crimes that he cringed to remember.
Successfully leading the children of Israel out of Egypt didn’t improve matters much. The former slaves weren’t exactly grateful for their new lives in the desert. Moses couldn’t get relief from his onerous task as leader of God’s people no matter what he did.
God finally offered Moses a reprieve in Numbers 11:17:
“And I will come down and talk with you [in the tabernacle]: and I will take of the spirit which is upon you, and will put it upon [the seventy elders]; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you bear it not yourself alone.”
Sometimes we are Moses. We feel we’ve been given all the responsibility, and it’s simply too much for us. Yet we don’t know how to share it (or perhaps we don’t think anyone else can do our job as well as we can).
It’s time to delegate our responsibilities. Find good people who are willing to take on portions of God’s dispensation, and then trust them to do right in the sight of the Lord. Oversee, check up, and ask for regular updates, but we need to quit trying to do it all on our own. Walking with Christ is a group activity, a relay race, a community event. It’s when we are involved together that the spirit of Christ will truly fall, and we will find the strength of his presence covering us.
Moses became a better leader when he shared his responsibilities. We become betters pastors, parents, and co-workers when we discuss, collaborate, and participate joyfully in the holy work of Christ our King.
We are stronger for Christ when holding hands than when we struggle through our Christian walk alone.
Copyright © 2016 MyChurchNotes.net
Originally Published 9-17-16 in Relationships