What to look for in a mentor

In Exodus 18: 8–27 we read the story of Moses and an interesting interaction with his father-in-law Jethro. Jethro hears of the victory God’s people have been given by God leading the slaves out of Egypt and now are on their way to the promised land. Upon his arrival at the Israelites’ encampment, he is greeted by Moses with the good news of God’s provision for his people. Jethro wisely gathers Moses, Aaron and the priest of their people and leads them in a worship service praising God for his provision.

The next day, we encounter Moses being a judge for the people of God, ALL of the people of God. This task was certainly daunting. Being the judge for every small disagreement for an entire nation was not something sustainable for the long term for Moses and his father-in-law recognizes this. This would be like if every legal matter was taken directly to the supreme court, there would never be any time for the justices to do anything but deal with all of these cases.

Jethro confronts Moses about this unsustainable process. He instructs Moses to find honest, Godly men to place over groups of tens, the fifties, hundreds and thousands to settle small disputes and to bring only the big decisions to him.

Moses learned a powerful lesson that day. The lesson was that we all need mentorship. I believe, in order for us to reach the place that God has for us, we need people to guide us along the way. You may think you became who you are only on your own merit, but I would still argue there are people and influences along…