Have you ever noticed in the Bible that three believers, are busy serving the Lord, ask Him to let them die. Each of them seem quite certain that given their circumstances, it would be better to die than live. None of them have a painful illness. None of them are facing financial ruin. None of them have been betrayed by a family member. Yet all three clearly indicate they have a strong death wish.
Moses is the first one. He was tired of the complaints from the nation of Israel. They started to complain very soon after the miraculous escape from Israel. The Bible records at least eight times that they complained: when they thought they were going to be slaughtered by the Egyptian army; when they had no water; when they were tired of manna and wanted meat; etc. Each time they did not simply complain to God - they complained to Moses and about Moses leadership.
It must have been a difficult job to lead this large new nation, filled with people all of whom had been slaves. They were new to freedom; new to life in the desert; new to following any leader but Pharoah. What made Moses' job so much more difficult was the fact that they seemed short on thankfulness and quick to complain.
Finally Moses had enough. He complains strongly to God: "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant?What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? --- I cannot carry all these people by myself: the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now." Numbers 11:10 - 15.
Moses needed help. The task of leading this large nation had become overwhelming. He needed associates; he needed to delegate. And God lovingly responds, offering Moses 70 assistant leaders to help him carry the burden of leadership.
Of course Christians can become overwhelmed, stressed out and move toward depression or burn out. Sometimes this is clearly from one main cause: we are working too hard and handling too much responsibility. We need to stop and determine whether this is the case. If so we need to either learn: how we can become more efficient and effective under the work load; or we need to learn to delegate; or insist on the boss lightening our work load; or for the sake of our health, look for another job.
If this is where you find yourself, don't wait until you feel so bad that you would rather die than continue to carry your present load.
Tomorrow: the second godly man who wanted to die.
Moses is the first one. He was tired of the complaints from the nation of Israel. They started to complain very soon after the miraculous escape from Israel. The Bible records at least eight times that they complained: when they thought they were going to be slaughtered by the Egyptian army; when they had no water; when they were tired of manna and wanted meat; etc. Each time they did not simply complain to God - they complained to Moses and about Moses leadership.
It must have been a difficult job to lead this large new nation, filled with people all of whom had been slaves. They were new to freedom; new to life in the desert; new to following any leader but Pharoah. What made Moses' job so much more difficult was the fact that they seemed short on thankfulness and quick to complain.
Finally Moses had enough. He complains strongly to God: "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant?What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? --- I cannot carry all these people by myself: the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now." Numbers 11:10 - 15.
Moses needed help. The task of leading this large nation had become overwhelming. He needed associates; he needed to delegate. And God lovingly responds, offering Moses 70 assistant leaders to help him carry the burden of leadership.
Of course Christians can become overwhelmed, stressed out and move toward depression or burn out. Sometimes this is clearly from one main cause: we are working too hard and handling too much responsibility. We need to stop and determine whether this is the case. If so we need to either learn: how we can become more efficient and effective under the work load; or we need to learn to delegate; or insist on the boss lightening our work load; or for the sake of our health, look for another job.
If this is where you find yourself, don't wait until you feel so bad that you would rather die than continue to carry your present load.
Tomorrow: the second godly man who wanted to die.
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