Exodus 16,17,18

18:18 "You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone."

Moses is advised to delegate. It's interesting that the advice does not just warn against Moses getting burnt out, but the Israelites as well.

Sometimes we (I) feel the need to do some hard task by ourselves. If we are able to complete it, we get big pats on the back and lots of attention. If the thing falls apart, we "martyr" ourselves, get big loads of pity and lots of attention. We would rather choose the path of more work and risk of failure over asking for help and admitting we can't do it on our own. It sounds like pride is the central issue.

I think I went through one of these deals last night. My wife and eldest son both got a nasty flu at the same time. Because of this, I had to watch the kids by myself (one of whom was sick) as well as be ready to help my wife at any given moment. On top of this, we had already told some friends of ours that we would make dinner for them since the mommy is pregnant and on limited bedrest (i.e. not having a lot of fun). I took it upon myself to do it all. Chaos ensued. At the end of the evening, the local news was knocking at the door to investigate a reported war zone that had taken over my living room and kitchen.

Well, the dinner got made, everyone survived, stomachs were emptied repeatedly, and Dave is the hero. That was the point, right? I'll be honest, I probably could have called our friends and asked if they would mind ordering pizza for themselves and they wouldn't have been the least bit disappointed, but I was determined to prove I could do it. In the end, everything was ok, but when you read this passage, you see what I was putting at risk:

"You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you"

I need to keep my pride in check even (and especially) when I'm trying to serve others. And I need to get better at asking for help. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my own personal Sarajevo.

Lord, help me to have the maturity to recognize times when I need help and to ask for it. Help me to bury my pride