Some time ago, I came across these notes, which were found on hospital charts:
• 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.
• 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, some sleepy intern or frazzled nurse wrote these notes. But that describes a lot of 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 weariness in the advice of Moses’ father-in-law.
Exodus 18:1-5 Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her home, along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land”), and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God (ESV)—that’s Mount Sinai
Exodus 18:6-7 And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent (ESV).
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 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the LORD had delivered them (ESV).
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 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the LORD had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. Jethro said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people” (ESV).
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 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God (ESV).
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 you must do if you want to relieve the weariness in your own soul.
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 you realize who’s really in control. When you begin to think that you have to control everything, life’s responsibilities can be overwhelming. But when you realize that GOD is the one in charge, then that takes the pressure off.
All you have to do is remain faithful to Him, and let Him take care of the results. You don’t have to force people to respond in a certain way. You just do what God tells you to do and let HIM deal with the people in your life – your children, your mates, or others. Let HIM deal with the outcomes. Giving praise to God gets your perspective right, and that goes a long way towards taking the pressure off.
Tim Keller, a pastor in Manhattan, New York, said that in 1970 a Sunday school teacher changed his life with a simple illustration.
The teacher said, “Let's assume the distance between the earth and the sun (92 million miles) was reduced to the thickness of this sheet of paper. If that is the case, then the distance between the earth and the nearest star would be a stack of papers 70 feet high. And the diameter of the galaxy would be a stack of papers 310 miles high.”
Then Keller's teacher added, “The galaxy is just a speck of dust in the universe, yet Jesus holds the universe together by the word of his power.”
Finally, the teacher asked her students, “Now, is this the kind of person you ask into your life to be your assistant?” (Timothy Keller, from the sermon The Gospel and Your Self; www.PreachingToday.com)
No! You ask Him to be in charge. Why would you in your puny strength want to run the show when you know Someone who has unlimited power? Let HIM run the show! Let God run your life, then you will be able to enjoy it a whole lot more.
Once, Jesus was speaking to a group of people, whose religious leaders had brainwashed them into thinking that their success in this life and the next was all up to them. Their leaders had given them hundreds of rules to follow as the only way to find prosperity and God’s blessing. But those rules became a burden as people found themselves unable to put them into practice.
It is to these people, and to you and me, that Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Unlike the religious leaders who weighed their followers down with a lot of rules, Jesus says, “I won’t do that to you.”
You see, when Jesus spoke these words, oxen worked in teams. Sometimes an older, more mature ox would share the yoke with a younger ox. In that case, the yoke was designed for the more mature ox to bear the load with the younger ox just getting a feel for something around its neck. The younger ox did not bear the load at all. It just walked alongside the older ox so it could learn how to be useful in the farmer’s field.
Well, that’s the picture Jesus gives of our relationship with Him. He shares the other side of the yoke, bearing its load. All you need to do is walk alongside Him as you learn how to be useful in God’s field.
When Jesus hung on the cross, He cried out, “It is finished!” Jesus did all the work. All that remains for us to do is depend on Him. You see, not only your salvation, but your success in this life is all up to Him.
I like the way Dane Ortlund put it in his book, Defiant Grace. Ortlund says, “Christianity is the unreligion. It turns all our religious instincts on their heads… The ancient Greeks told us to be moderate by knowing our inclinations. The Romans told us to be strong by ordering our lives. Buddhism tells us to be disillusioned by annihilating our consciousness. Hinduism tells us to be absorbed by merging our souls. Islam tells us to be submissive by subjecting our wills. Agnosticism tells us to be at peace by ignoring our doubts. Moralism tells us to be good by discharging our obligations. Only the gospel tells us to be free by acknowledging our failure. Christianity is the unreligion because it is the one faith whose founder tells us to bring not our doing, but our need” (Dane Ortlund, Defiant Grace, EP Books, 2011, p. 38; www.PreachingToday.com).
If you want relief from your own weariness, don’t bring your doing to God; bring your need and give Him the praise for all that He has done. Give God the praise. Then…
GIVE OTHERS THE POWER.
Share the load with qualified people if you want relief. Delegate authority, along with responsibility, to the right people. Relinquish control to capable individuals. That’s a lesson Moses had to learn before he could gain any relief from his weariness.
Exodus 18:13-16 The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws” (ESV).
Moses was settling all the disputes among 2 to 3 million people! Sure, he used it as a way to teach them God’s law, but he was wearing himself out.
Exodus 18:17-18 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone (ESV).
The job is too big for any one person. And by doing it all by himself, Moses succeeded not only in wearing himself out; he was wearing all the people out as well. The word in the Hebrew is a very interesting word. The word translated “wear out” literally means “to fade away” (Keil-Delitzch), “to be withered with exhaustion,” “to sink or drop down, languish, wither and fall” (Chuck Swindoll, Moses, p.253).
What a vivid picture of what was going on here! Moses was fading away, withering with exhaustion. And the people too were withering away as they waited in the hot sun all day. So Jethro says to Moses…
Exodus 18:19-20 Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do (ESV)—Teach them as a group, not individually.
Exodus 18:21-23 Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace” (ESV).
Relieve yourself and satisfy all the people by sharing the load with capable men.
Exodus 18:24-26 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves (ESV).
They didn’t have to run it by Moses first. They decided the simple cases all by themselves, leaving only a few difficult cases for Moses to resolve. You see, Moses had given them not only the responsibility, but the authority to judge the people as well.
Moses relinquished control to capable people, and that’s what you must learn to do if you want relief from your own weariness. Turn people loose to do the work without micromanaging their efforts or looking over their shoulder all the time. You do what only you can do. Let others do all the rest. As the workload increases, don’t work harder; work smarter. Don’t get busier; get more effective by asking for help.
Chuck Swindoll says, “It is no sign of spirituality that you work fifteen to eighteen hours a day, seven days a week, and never take a vacation… It is no sign of spirituality that you groan your way through life, looking humble and wanting everybody to be impressed with your rundown, overworked, underpaid, haggard appearance. Get a life!” (Chuck Swindoll, Moses, p.259).
Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10).
Busyness is no sign of spirituality or any kind of a full life. In fact, it’s more likely the sign of an empty life.
Tim Kreider, in an article he wrote for The New York Times called The Busy Trap put it this way: “If you live in America in the 21st century, you've probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It's become the default response when you ask anyone how they're doing: ‘Busy!’ ‘So busy.’ ‘Crazy busy.’ It is, pretty obviously, a boast disguised as a complaint. And the stock response is a kind of congratulation: ‘That's a good problem to have,’ or ‘Better than the opposite.’”
Then Kreider goes on to say, “Busyness serves as a kind of … hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day… [We're] busy because of [our] own ambition or drive or anxiety, because [we're] addicted to busyness and dread what [we] might have to face in its absence” (Tim Kreider, “The Busy Trap,” The New York Times, 6-30-12; www.PreachingToday.com).
My dear friends, when life seems overwhelming, don’t get busy; get help!
Charles Plumb was a U.S. Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, a surface-to-air missile destroyed his plane. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent six years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now speaks on the lessons learned from that experience.
One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, “You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!”
Plumb asked, “How in the world did you know that?”
The man replied, “I packed your parachute.”
Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, “I guess it worked!”
Plumb assured him, “It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today.”
Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, “I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said ‘Good morning, how are you?’ or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor.”
Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.
Now, Plumb asks his audience, “Who's packing your parachute? (Kare Anderson, “Who Packs Your Parachute?” Forbes, 11/18/15; www.PreachingToday.com).
Please, don’t be too proud to accept and acknowledge help from others, for even superstars need help.
Montee Ball remembers the day he could have changed the course of his career. The Denver Broncos' running backs coach, Eric Studesville, smelled the alcohol coming from Ball during practice, then confronted him kindly, in private. Ball later said, “He pulled me to the side and asked me if I needed any help, any resources. And I told him no.”
Alcoholism cut Ball's career short soon thereafter: He fell out of the NFL after just two seasons. Then in February 2016, he was arrested on charges of a felony battery against his girlfriend. Ball said:
The straw that broke the camel's back was obviously the domestic-violence situation. When I landed in jail... in my head I'm like, “Okay, I've never done anything like this, what is going on with me?” And that pushed me over the edge in a good way to go to therapy. For the entire part of my drinking life, I wasn't being honest with myself. But by being honest with myself, but reaching out for help, by sticking with my therapy, it feels that I am the most free, that burden has been lifted off my shoulders.
Nine years later (2024), he's working to ensure that as few people as possible miss the opportunity he did back then. Today, he works with Wisconsin Voices for Recovery, mentoring people as they struggle with mental illness and substance abuse issues (Jackson Thompson, “Former NFL running back Montee Ball says alcoholism cost him his career. He's now helping others avoid that fate” (Insider, 3-13-21; www.PreachingToday.com).
Montee Ball could have avoided a lot of pain had he accepted the offer of help. Please, don’t make the same mistake. Even if your issue is something other than alcoholism or addiction, don’t be too proud to accept help. Don’t get busy; get help! Get help,1st of all, from Jesus Himself, then from those He has placed in your life.
That’s God’s cure for weariness. Give God the praise and give others the power.
Jesus, I am resting, resting
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee,
And Thy beauty fills my soul,
For by Thy transforming power,
Thou hast made me whole (Jean S. Pigott).
