Jethro and the cowboy missionary

Y’know, the cowboy preacher was right when he said that preachin’ to thousands at a time aint as effective as disciplin’ one at a time.

And, in Exodus 18, Jethro was right when he told Moses that he’d get plum wor’ out listnin’ t’all those people’s problems, and that the people’d get tired of standin’ around waitin’ for him to hear their case. So Jethro suggested to Moses, “I reckon you could teach them rules to a few people and have them judge some cases. They could bring the toughest problems to you. An’ your work load would be slimmed down quite a bit.”

And in chapter 20 God kinda does the same thing. He speaks so that the Israelites can hear his voice, but it is through Moses that he makes his will known.

And God doesn’t give big fancy revelations of himself to everybody. He relies on people telling others about him. God takes sort of a hands off approach. Sure he is totally involved in our lives and everything. But he doesn’t tell us every little thing. He lets us make big decisions on our own.

I was thinking about how God hasn’t given be any big hints about my future. I just want to have some idea, so that I know what I need to be doing now to prepare for it. I saw a someone who couldn’t walk very well. I had this urge to go help her out. To open doors, carry things, pick her up and carry her. But I knew she wouldn’t appreciate any of those things. She’s glad that she can walk as well as she can. And as she struggles with her legs they become stronger and her stride gets smoother.

God isn’t like an overbearing overprotective mother who raises incompetent children. He knows how much we can handle. He is like an eagle. Pushing us out of the nest so that we can use our own wings. But as we fall, he is right there to catch us.