Read: Exodus 18:13-27

If you do this thing, and
God so commands you, then
you will be able to endure.
-Exodus 18:23

People who kill time and waste opportunities create
problems for themselves. “They’re irresponsible!” we
complain. On the other hand, some people encounter
problems because they are over-responsible. They say to
themselves, “If I don’t do it, no one will. Even if
others would do it, they wouldn’t get it right.” This
attitude has been called “the perfectionist’s myth,” and
those who live it are labeled “exhausted martyrs.”

Perhaps you know someone like this. Perhaps it’s you.

Exodus 18 describes Moses as a dedicated,
over-responsible person. Day after day he was the sole
judge of the people and their countless questions. His
father-in-law Jethro said, “This thing is too much for
you; you are not able to perform it by yourself” (v.18).

He advised Moses to concentrate on teaching. He said he
should judge only big problems and appoint reliable men
to judge smaller matters (vv.19-22). “If you do this
thing,” Jethro concluded, “and God so commands you, then
you will be able to endure” (v.23).

Are you exhausted because you’ve been trying to do
everything by yourself? Ask God for wisdom and the
strength to do what He wants you to do. Don’t try to do
it all yourself. Then you too “will be able to endure.”
-Joanie E. Yoder

Lord, help me know from day to day
The work I cannot carry through;
Then grant me wisdom to discern
The tasks that You would have me do. -DJD

DON’T TRY TO DO EVERYTHING –
DO ONLY WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO.

OUR DAILY BREAD, Copyright 1998 by Radio Bible Class,
Grand Rapids,Michigan. Used by permission.