“For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.”
People in authority sometimes think that they must do everything, instead of developing the people beneath them and delegating authority to them. It may be a problem of pride — the mistaken belief that no one else can do the job as well. They keep their hand in everything so that every little thing bears their stamp, and no one else gets credit for anything.
Moses was almost overwhelmed by the sheer number of issues he felt responsible for among the Israelites. Instead of delegating the authority to judge the people, he sat before them from dawn till dusk and tried to settle every dispute, both major and minor. When Moses’ father-in-law Jethro visited him, he immediately saw the folly of this practice and spoke the words of our verse for today. Moses couldn’t possibly do it all. Jethro advised Moses to delegate his authority to “rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens” (Exodus 18:21). Moses would be left with only the major disputes to adjudicate.
Moses may not have been afflicted by pride (Numbers 12:3), but similarly the failure to delegate causes people to wear themselves out. They wear themselves out precisely because they fail to share the load with others. They can even wear out those they are trying to serve, because they are stretched so thin they don’t have time to serve properly. If the problem persists, it can even lead to physical sickness.
God is unlimited, but we are limited. God can do everything, but we can only do some things. Trying to do everything is a vain and pitiful attempt to be like God, and it is a failure to acknowledge personal limitations. We were made for community, and we need other people to help us. Like army ants joining together to form a bridge over water, or lions taking on different roles in a hunt, we need other people to get the job done well.
Today, ask yourself: Am I trying to do too much? Am I taking on too much responsibility? Is the Lord teaching me to delegate and trust Him for the results?
By John Huisman
