Shortly after the Exodus, there is what I find to be a rather curious account of Moses and his father-in-law, Jethro. Jethro observes Moses judging the people of Israel by himself all daylong, and rather than praising Moses for his good work ethic, Jethro reproves him: “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone” (Exodus 18:17, 18, English Standard Version).
Then, Jethro advises Moses to delegate the responsibility of judging smaller cases to others so that Moses can focus solely on judging greater matters. Jethro tells him, “If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure” (Exodus 18:23). In this passage, God does not expect Moses to judge Israel alone and wear himself out in the process. Instead, Moses is able to succeed as a leader of the children of Israel by sharing his responsibility and taking on a more manageable load.
This story is brief, but I think it contains a valuable lesson for us: It is OK to accept our limits. God has given each of us different gifts (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Peter 4:10, 11), and as the Parable of the Talents shows us in Matthew 25, God knows that some people are able to accomplish more than others are, and his expectation is that we will act according to our own ability.
As college students, we have what seems like a gazillion opportunities to join honor societies or other organizations, work and volunteer. These are excellent endeavors and it can be difficult to pare down which ones we will get involved in, so many of us sign up for several extracurricular activities at once — and still take 18 hours’ worth of classes. While some students are able to balance a full course load and multiple clubs or other responsibilities, other students struggle to find and maintain this balance.
This semester, I have found myself in the latter group. I love everything that I am involved in, but I have overscheduled myself, and as a result I cannot fulfill all of my obligations to the best ofmy ability. As I acknowledged earlier in the semester, I have a tendency to overschedule myself, so this is not altogether new. What I have found this time, though, is that by committing to too many activities and not being able to devote enough time to each of them, I am affecting other people because they have to pick up the slack.
I used to think it was commendable to overachieve, but this semester has taught me that we should instead strive to work hard to the glory of God while also recognizing that we have limits. It is not selfish to turn down opportunities that people may present to us; in fact, sometimes the most selfless thing we can do is say, “No.” If we do not have enough time or energy for our activities, we may not be able to honor those commitments, and that may hurt others who are also involved in those efforts. Having an overwhelming schedule drains happiness, and letting down others because we cannot do what we have said we would compounds this problem.
On the other hand, if we know what we can handle course-wise and activity-wise and act within these limitations, I think we have a much greater chance of having joy. We can have more energy to focus on each of the things we do commit to, so we are able to do a more effective job, which is a blessing to others. We are also more likely to feel less stressed and burdened — and that is a blessing to ourselves. Thus, happiness is accepting your limits.
