A man looking down with his hand on the back of his neck

 

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Stress

12 July 2019
‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’

Life can often feel overwhelming. Moses, one of the greatest leaders in history, got so stressed out with the responsibilities he was carrying that he wanted to die. God had called Moses to lead His people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land – quite a task in itself. But the Israelites weren’t the easiest people to deal with. They repeatedly complained about things and they kept disobeying God. Moses’ father-in-law Jethro noticed the stress Moses was under and said, ‘What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone’ (Exodus 18:17-18 NIV). The answer for Moses’ stress can be summed up in two parts: 1) Delegate the work to qualified people and trust them to do it. Being a good leader isn’t about trying to do everything ourselves, but letting others help us out. Different people have different skills. Other people are better at doing certain tasks than we are, so we should recognise that and allow them to get involved rather than trying to be the hero who does everything alone. 2) Draw on God’s strength rather than our own. God told Moses, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ The word ‘rest’ means ‘inner peace, well-being, security, and confidence’. God doesn’t want us to be living with stress, constantly on the edge of burnout. He wants us to find rest in Him. The answers to Moses’ stress are also the answers to ours. He wants us to learn to share out the workload, and to turn to Him for the rest and peace we so desperately need.

 

What Now?

Feeling stressed? Try asking someone for help on a task. And ask God to help you experience the rest that His presence offers.

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