Day 59 – Moses Delegates

Readings

  • Exodus 18
  • Numbers 11:14-30
  • Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Prayer

Pray… that you will rely on God’s help in tough situations.

Day 59 – Moses Delegates

Moses is overwhelmed and the importance of others

 

  • In today’s first Old Testament passage, we are reintroduced to someone who may well have forgotten about. Who is Jethro?
  • How did Jethro guide and instruct Moses? How many different “coaches” like Jethro do you have in your life? Do you listen to their advice all the time?
  • What do we learn about the character of Moses, and his leadership abilities, in the Exodus passage?
  • Jethro gave wise advice in the passage, but we can see that he learned something too. He notes in Exodus 18:11 that he “knows that the Lord is greater than all gods” because of what Moses explained to him. Your friends can come to know that the “Lord is greater” too. Maybe there’s a challenge to be like Moses and talk about the great work of God to others?
  • In the Numbers passage, we see another moment where Moses was feeling overwhelmed. What did God do to teach and help him?
  • Do you ever feel overwhelmed by things around you, or pressures or expectations on you? What options are there for you when you feel overwhelmed or struggling?
  • Everyone needs help and support from time to time – whether it’s the team around Nigel helping him run the church affairs, or the team around Chris helping to run the youth work, or the help we sometimes need on a one-to-one basis. Are you ready to accept that help and encouragement, even if it means accepting you can’t do everything yourself, or sharing your burdens?
  • You have good friendships at Eureka, don’t you? You might like to write down the verses from Ecclesiastes and remember the importance of friendship. You can also remember that without Jesus being that friend to us, we’re going to be pretty helpless on our own. The fact of the matter is this – we need Him!

 

Two friends of mine at church who you may know, called Nick and Beki, got married a few years ago today! If you don’t know them, they are a couple in their forties at church. Their marriage reminds me of two “working together and helping each other out” comments:

 

  • When Nick moved out of his flat in preparation for moving into his new house, I helped Nick to move all his furniture. What a miserable job that would have been on his own! When you move a cupboard, it takes two people at least. That’s not just because it’s heavy. It’s bulky, and it’s fragile, and it can break. With two people you can balance it, you can hold it in different ways, and you can guide it along its path and watch it from both the front and the back. Two people can get the cupboard out of the house in 5 minutes. One person certainly couldn’t do it in 10; he might even struggle to do it in 30, and it might have a risk of falling down the stairs! My point is this – God gave us friends and gave us the compassion to help each other out. Sometimes we just can’t struggle on our own – we need help. Are you a helpful friend to those around you?
  • Nick and Beki, when they got married, committed themselves to each other for life. In a marriage, you help each other out in many, many ways. In fact, we’re called to forgo our own wishes and desires to help and support our partners. This sacrificial role is for both women and men. As a couple, Nick and Beki can do so much more together in some situations then they might have been able to do alone. The Bible says that marriage between a man and a woman is like the relationship between Jesus and the church (i.e. believers of Him). Jesus gave up his life in order to help us do what we could never do on our own – achieve the state of sinless perfection that God demands. Nick and Beki can’t do that for each other, of course, but they can rely on each other for strength and guidance as they live together, and that will certainly help in tough times!

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