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Exodus 18:17-21
Moses' father-in-law
replied, "What you are doing is not good. You and these people
who come to you will only wear yourselves out.
The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle
it alone. Listen
now to me and I will give you some advice, and
may God be with you. You must be the people's
representative before God and bring their
disputes to him. Teach
them the decrees and laws, and show them the way
to live and the duties they are to perform.
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.
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August 23
Gift of Administration
Moses was a talented leader.
He confronted Pharaoh boldly and led the Israelites
out of Egypt. He was also a wise
counselor, settling disputes among the
Israelites. One thing he was not, was an
administrator.
It took the insight and gift
of his father-in-law Jethro to see that what he
was doing was going to burn him out. He
needed to be more efficient.
Administration guys are the ones that repeat the
"Work smarter, not harder" mantra. Sure,
it's cliché' but there is truth to it as well.
While leaders can lead a
group of people to accomplish a certain task or
realize a certain vision, administrators are the
ones who visualize the details that will get it
done.
I can recall organizing a
Sunday school class picnic. My idea of
organizing was setting a time, place, and date.
Show up then with food and we'll eat. Then
the administrators (the women in this case) all
start asking "will there be drinks provided?"
"Who's bringing what so we don't have
duplicates."
I was happy to just show up
and have food, regardless whether there were two
potato salads. But administrators saw the
little things that made the difference and took care
of details I may have overlooked. |
