Share the Load

But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” - Exodus 18:21-23

Yesterday, we discussed the life of Moses and how he took practical steps to avoid burnout in his life. We talked about how the first step Moses took was to honestly evaluate what he needed and what he was capable of. Today, I want us to look at another step as we strive to follow Moses’ example in avoiding overwhelm.

The second step Moses took was to humbly delegate what others can do. Sometimes I’ll have other pastors ask me to tell them the greatest leadership lesson I have ever learned. I don’t ever hesitate to respond with this answer: delegate to others what others can do so you can concentrate on the things that only you can do.

Nobody is indispensable but everybody is important. Any time you are stressed out because you think you have a job that is bigger than you can do alone, it may very well be too much, which is God’s way of telling you to not try to do it alone.

This is where Moses found himself, trying to do much on his own. It was his father-in-law who finally stepped in and told him he needed to delegate some of his responsibilities and offload some of his stress, which I believe is advice we all need to take from time to time.

Every job has two parts to it. There is the essential part that you and you alone can do, and then there is the supplemental part that somebody else can do. It is when we start taking up more and more of that supplemental part that our ship begins to sink because the load is too heavy. This is why delegating is absolutely vital.

Is there something you need to delegate in your life right now? Are you overwhelmed and overloaded, but you’re having trouble letting go of some of your responsibilities? If so, ask the Lord to give you the humility you need to ask for help and to delegate some of the workload so that you can focus on what only you can do and allow others to use their gifts to accomplish other aspects of the work that needs to be done.

Dear Lord, I know I need help. I can’t keep up at this speed with this much on my plate. Please give me the humility and the courage to ask for help and to delegate where I can. There is no shame in asking others to come alongside you, so I pray that you would help me to take that step. In Jesus’ name, amen.