“But select capable men from all the people--men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain--and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”** Exodus 18:21-23 (NIV)**
We were not made to be islands. Indeed, we need each other. Our loads become lighter when shared, helping us to stand the strain. Life can be very difficult. The only negative thing we discover God stating regarding Creation and the amazing works of His Hands is in Genesis 2:18 (NIV) when He tells us: “The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’” To be sure, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit – all three God yet differing offices – have constant communion with each other.
There can be great loneliness in the battle, Amen? In our verse for today, we see how spent Moses was when carrying the burden alone. We can also feel the isolation in the Apostle Paul’s words when in prison he writes to his beloved Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:15 (NIV): “You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.” There appears to have been a failure to support Paul rightly when he was chained in prison in his great time of need – and he felt it exceedingly. His loneliness was palpable. We were not made to bear all the weight on our shoulders alone.
Trials and afflictions are evils to the lost but they serve to better the child of the King. Gold is not harmed in the fire. It only refines and purifies it. They same is true for the believer. God uses everything He allows in the lives of His heirs of mercy to bring forth good. We go to our heavenly Father in all our troubles and seek His peace which passes all human understanding to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Yet, we often need others that have walked the same path we are presently walking to encourage and strengthen us on our way. No one understands better than the one who has walked through the same circumstance. None of us stays on the mountaintop or in the valley. Indeed, life is constantly changing. Nothing stays the same. That is the good and the bad news. When we have walked through the hard and are on the other side, as believers, we are to turn around and “call back” to the one who is walking through the same situation and tell them of God’s faithfulness to us during our time of need. If He was faithful to us, He will be faithful to them as well, Amen? As we encourage others of God’s faithfulness who are walking through what we have been through, we make “beauty out of our ashes, the oil of gladness out of our mourning, and a garment of praise out of a spirit of despair” Isaiah tells us. We always receive more than we give. That is the beauty of “body” work.
A friend loves at all times. Proverbs 17:17A (NIV)