Welcome to today's encouragement from our daily bread.

Our reading titled Wise Counsel was written by Katara Patton.

While attending seminary, I was working full-time.

Add to that, a chaplaincy rotation and an internship at a church,

I was busy. When my father visited me, he said, you're going to have a breakdown. I shrugged it off

as his warning, thinking he was just of another generation and didn't understand goal setting.

I didn't have a breakdown, but I did experience a

very rough dry season in which I fell into depression. Since then, I've learned to listen to

warnings, especially from loved ones, more carefully. That reminds me of Moses' story in the book of

Exodus. He too was diligently working, serving as

Israel's judge. Yet, he chose to listen to his father-in-law's warning. Jethro wasn't in the thick of

things, but he loved Moses and his family and could see trouble ahead. Perhaps that's why

Moses was able to listen to Jethro and heed his advice.

Moses set up a system for capable men from all people to take on the smaller disputes,

and he took on the more difficult cases.

Because he listened to Jethro, rearranged his work, and entrusted others to shoulder the load, he was able to avoid burnout

during that season of life. Many of us take our work for God, our families, and others seriously,

passionately even, but we still need to heed the advice of trusted loved ones and to rely on the wisdom and power of God in all we do.

Today's Our Daily Bread Devotional Scripture reading is from Exodus chapter 18, verses 13 through 22. The next day Moses took his seat to serve

as judge for the people and they stood around him from morning till evening. When his father-in-law

saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, what is this you are doing for the people?

Why do you alone sit as judge,

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