Paula Wiseman

Faith and life meet in a story

  • Home
  • Blog
    • Read
    • Subscribe
  • Books
  • STORE
  • I Read! Now What?
  • Contact
    • Press
    • Paula Wiseman Speaking Info
  • About
    • Testimony
  • Free Resources
Home » busyness

Letting it go

By Paula

Not long after crossing the Red Sea, Moses met up with his father-in-law, Jethro. Jethro observed how Moses ran things and offered some advice.
“The next day, Moses took his seat to hear the people’s disputes against each other. They waited before him from morning till evening. When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “What are you really accomplishing here? Why are you trying to do all this alone while everyone stands around you from morning till evening?”[…] “This is not good!” Moses’ father-in-law exclaimed.
“You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself.”
He went on to suggest that Moses appoint trustworthy men to judge the lesser disputes, leaving only to major ones for Moses to deal with personally.
Letting go is one of the toughest things for us to do, especially if it’s a ministry, or something else noble and worthwhile. We get personally invested. It becomes part of us. It becomes the way others identify us. We never notice when it sucks the life out of us.
We are finite human beings with a limited amount of time, energy and attention. We also have an extreme desire to make the most out of that. However, I think we have a tendency to read “do all for the GLORY OF GOD” as “DO ALL for the glory of God.” God never told us we had to do it all. He did say to work for His kingdom and not our own.
How do you tell when or what to quit? I discussed that briefly here.
Reasons to let go-
Personal and spiritual health – Who was in better shape spiritually? Mary or Martha? Mary was accused of being lazy, but she knew what she was doing and Jesus confirmed that.
Others’ growth – As long as Moses took acre of everything himself, there was no opportunity for anyone else to grow as a leader.
Focus – Just because you CAN doesn’t mean you HAVE TO. Stick to the things only YOU can do. (And no, that’s not everything… See #2)

Not long after crossing the Red Sea, Moses met up with his father-in-law, Jethro. Jethro observed how Moses ran things and offered some advice.

“The next day, Moses took his seat to hear the people’s disputes against each other. They waited before him from morning till evening. When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “What are you really accomplishing here? Why are you trying to do all this alone while everyone stands around you from morning till evening?”[…] “This is not good!” Moses’ father-in-law exclaimed. “You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself.”

He went on to suggest that Moses appoint trustworthy men to judge the lesser disputes, leaving only to major ones for Moses to deal with personally.

Letting go is one of the toughest things for us to do, especially if it’s a ministry, or something else noble and worthwhile. We get personally invested. It becomes part of us. It becomes the way others identify us. We never notice when it sucks the life out of us.

We are finite human beings with a limited amount of time, energy and attention. We also have an extreme desire to make the most out of that. However, I think we have a tendency to read “do all for the GLORY OF GOD” as “DO ALL for the glory of God.” God never told us we had to do it all. He did say to work for His kingdom and not our own.

How do you tell when or what to quit? I discussed that briefly here.

Reasons to let go-

  1. Personal and spiritual health – Who was in better shape spiritually? Mary or Martha? Mary was accused of being lazy, but she knew what she was doing and Jesus confirmed that.
  2. Others’ growth – As long as Moses took acre of everything himself, there was no opportunity for anyone else to grow as a leader.
  3. Focus – Just because you CAN doesn’t mean you HAVE TO. Stick to the things only YOU can do. (And no, that’s not everything… See #2)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: busyness, Exodus, Moses

Encounters Series

From the opening pages of Scripture, no one who has encountered a holy God has come away unchanged. Adam, Abraham, Hagar, Moses and many, many others realized that God is not distant but a God who … Read More

Covenant of Trust rings icon

Covenant of Trust Series

A covenant is a solemn, binding agreement. God chose to unilaterally enter into a covenant with Abraham. No matter what Abraham said or did, God vowed to uphold the terms and bless Abraham. Marriage … Read More...

brick icon for Foundations

Foundations Series

Jesus told a parable about a wise builder and a foolish one, underscoring how important it is to have a solid foundation. He declared that obedience to His word was the surest foundation of all. In … Read More...

&copy 2017 Paula Wiseman & Sage Words · Site Developed by MindStir Media & Paula Wiseman · MindStirMedia.com | Privacy Policy

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are okay with it.OkNo