Written by: jimwideman 7/21/2010 11:25 PM
The answer is to get to the heart of the matter and dive into what I call the excellence model. Let’s set up the story. Moses was doing what a lot of people in the ministry do he was doing the job alone. He was seeing a measure of success but it was not the best for his ministry or his family. You see what got Mr. Excellence (that’s what Jethro’s name means…) to pay Moses a visit is because Moses’ wife took the kids, left Moses and went home to daddy. In Exodus 18:6-10 we pick up the story…” 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. 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. 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.
Here we learn a big lesson about what excellence does, he heard his daughter’s side of the story then he came and heard Moses’ side. A good leader is a good listener! It’s had to learn when you don’t listen. Listening also helps you to locate where people are. But he didn’t stop there he did something else. Exodus 18:13-19 tells us what he did before he gave advice. He saw for himself what was going on. “The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?" Moses answered him, "Because the people come to me to seek God's will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God's decrees and laws.” Moses' father-in-law replied, "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. Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him.
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