Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Now listen to me. I will give you counsel, and God be with ”
NL Daily Devotion for Friday, October 4, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I do love Jethro. Here Moses has liberated an entire civilization from slavery in Egypt and is single-handedly leading them, when in waltzes his father-in-law, who’s been sitting pretty in Midian, to tell him what he’s doing wrong. To his credit, Moses listens. He’s at his max. Doing way too much on his own, and it’s breaking him. Instead of being indignant that Jethro wants to give him an earful, Moses plunks down with an open mind and heart and says, “bring it.”
What does it take for us to get to that point where we’re so open to wise counsel? Some of us are probably much better than I used to be. I was a figure-it-outer-par-excellence! No one, and I mean no one was going to tell me what to do! Then my chaotic life conspired with a growing addiction to sugar and volume eating and I was “beaten into a state of reasonableness” as it says somewhere in AA literature. I was finally in a teachable state, and I was absolutely ready for someone to tell me exactly what to do. And I did it!
Recovery, maturity, experience, open-mindedness, some combination of all of the above brings each of us to a place where we’re perhaps more ready to be open to the advice of others where appropriate. And it’s helpful for me to remember that God speaks through the wise counselors in my life, so I would be wise, myself, to listen.
Who are the people in my life I trust to give me thoughtful and helpful advice?
