Cure For Weariness Series

This last week, I came across some notes supposedly found on hospital charts, and I thought you might enjoy them as I did:

• The patient refused autopsy.

• Note: Patient recovering from forehead cut. Patient became very angry when given an enema by mistake.

• Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.

• On the second day, the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.

• The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.

• She is numb from her toes down.

• While in ER, she was examined, x-rated, and sent home.

• Patient was alert and unresponsive.

• I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.

• The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.

• Skin: Somewhat pale but present.

• Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities. (Marshall Shelley, www.PreachingToday.com)

No doubt, these were probably written by some sleepy intern or frazzled nurse. But that describes most people in our society today – underpaid, overworked and weary. Perhaps, it describes you these days.

It certainly described Moses in the days after God used him to free the Israelites from Egypt. He was leading 2 to 3 million people across the wilderness, putting up with their constant grumbling, and trying to settle their many disputes. It was wearing him down, but even he found some relief in the company of an old friend, his father-in-law, who gave him some good advice.

If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Exodus 18, Exodus 18, where we discover God’s cure for our weariness in the advice of Moses’ father-in-law.

Exodus 18:1-5 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have become an alien in a foreign land”; and the other was named Eliezer, for he said, “My father’s God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.” Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the desert, where he was camped near the mountain of God (NIV) – that’s Mount Sinai.

Exodus 18:6-7 Jethro had sent word to him, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.” So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent. (NIV)

Moses had lived 40 years with his father-in-law before he went back to Egypt. Now, after the stress of dealing with Pharaoh, the grumbling of 2 to 3 million Israelites, and an attack by the Amalekites, it must have felt good to be home again with his family.

Exodus 18:8 Moses told his father-in-law about everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the Lord had saved them. (NIV)

Moses gave God the glory for all that was done! Moses didn’t brag about what he had done. Instead, he bragged about what GOD had done.

Exodus 18:9-11 Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. He said, “Praise be to the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.” (NIV)

Because Moses gave God the praise, his father-in-law became a believer in Israel’s God, YHWH. Verse 1 says, “He was THE priest of Midian” – i.e., the CHIEF priest of a pagan religion. Now, he worships YHWH because of Moses’ witness.

Exodus 18:12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God. (NIV)

In-laws, family members, and all the leaders of Israel rejoiced together over what God had done. This was a praise party, which I’m sure went a long way towards relieving the weariness in Moses’ own soul.

Moses gave praise to God, and that’s what we must do if we want to relieve the weariness in our own souls.

GIVE GOD THE PRAISE.

Assign God the glory. Give God the credit for all your accomplishments. 1st of all, praise is refreshing to the soul. Nehemiah 8:10 says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” But even more so, praise helps us realize who’s really in control. When we begin to think that it is all up to us, life’s responsibilities can be overwhelming. But when we realize that GOD is the one in charge, then that takes the pressure off.