3 Types of people you absolutely NEED in your life – Part 1

Literally for a whole year one verse from the Bible has been stuck in my head – literally stuck! It’s really short, just one sentence in fact – but I promise you if you take it to heart and follow its advice it has the potential (with no hype) to change your life. It simply says this:

‘Walk with the wise and become wise, associate with fools and get into trouble’ Proverbs 13:20

Underwhelmed? Let me break it down a little and give you an illustration you may find helpful. Between the years of 1964-2014 it was estimated by the Centre of Disease Control that upwards of 2.5 million people died as a result of second hand smoke, and many other millions had suffered with second hand smoke related illnesses.

Just think about that, for one second…these people never chose to put a cigarette in their mouth, never chose to the lifestyle of a smoker – yet they suffered the worst consequences because of it. Why do I mention this statistic? Because, no matter who we are – We are all, without exception, affected by the environments we find ourselves in.

What is true physically in the statistics from the CDC I want to offer is also true both spiritually and emotionally for all of us too. We are all affected by the environments we are in not only the places, but more importantly I believe the people we allow into our lives. It’s the loudest voices in our lives that will affect our way of thinking, our self-esteem, our decisions, and ultimately helps steer the course of our lives.

With this in mind over three separate blog posts I want to introduce you to 3 types of people that if you get in your life will dramatically change it for the better. So without further delay let me introduce you to person number 1:

JETHRO

A Jethro is a person (male or female) who is further along in their spiritual journey than you are, are wise and are known for being wise. They are generally older, but not always and most importantly are godly and want to see you walking with God and operating in the callings and gifting he has put on your life, whatever that may look like.

We are introduced to the actual Jethro in the book of Exodus. It was when Moses was on the run after murdering an Egyptian oppressor, that he found himself in the desert both  literally and emotionally. He had lost everything he had ever known, and was so quick to run away from Egypt I bet he even forgot to pack his phone charger (we all know this pain).

Through a series of circumstances he ends up in Midian and after a bout of heroics involving a group of ladies and a rowdy herd of shepherds at a well he ends up marrying one of the girls called Zipporah, who was the daughter of Jethro, a local priest.

Moses had been brought up as a prince of Egypt, he was educated to the highest standard, versed in war, politics and literature and probably paid £90 for a haircut – he was that guy. Good catch for Zipporah, and what an asset to the family right?! So how does Jethro utilize this learned, accomplished, highly educated son-in-law that has fallen in his lap!? He makes him…wait for it…. a shepherd.

Yep, you read that correctly…a shepherd, someone who looks after sheep. Smelly, dirty, stupid sheep.  Just to rub salt in the wound of his massive demotion from prince to sheep herder, Moses (for all intents and purposes an Egyptian) probably wouldn’t have been too thrilled about this because  according to Genesis 46:34 Shepherds were not just disliked or looked down on by the Egyptians they were an ABOMINATION to them. They were offensive to the point this is what you would call your brother in an argument!

Not a glamorous job by any standards. Moses could’ve got high and mighty, been offended and not listened or respected what Jethro was asking him to do. But here’s the interesting thing, the small, looked down on and seemingly insignificant job role that Jethro gave him responsibility for would play a huge part in the plan that God had for his life, even though it would have been impossible for Moses to know at the time.

Think of the Karate Kid (the original 1984, and the best one in my humble opinion!)If you’ve seen it you will no-doubt remember the scene where Daniel having been battered and bullied at schoold is given the opportunity to lean martial arts by an amazingly skilled mentor (his Jethro) called Mr Miyagi! He turns up with bandanna on-and-all ready to learn how to fight!…Instead he was given a sponge and told to wax-on, wax-off a whole host of cars…and after told to paint a fence! He was given the grunt job, his face says it all (see below)…but he did it, probably more to prove a point than anything else.

What Daniel didn’t realise though, was that as he was sweating, cursing  under his breath, aching from his hard labour, the consistent movements were teaching his untrained muscles formative movements that were absolutely essential to the defence and attack movements that he would need to learn. His muscles whilst doing something seemingly insignificant were actually creating muscle memory for the most important battle he would face.

Sometimes Jethros will ask you to do things that you would see below your pay grade, that will seem useless and stupid and a waste of your time, but there will always be a reason, a lesson and a purpose for why they are asking you to do it – even when you don’t see it.

So it was with Moses! Whilst he was learning how to tend the flock, rolling around in the dirt with smelly sheep,  all through the frustration and seemingly insignificant tasks, unbeknownst to him Jethro had given him a platform to work through, and work out some of the vital skills he would need to learn to fulfill the huge calling God had put on his life – ultimately to look after, lead and care for the approximate two million strong flock that God would give to him charge of. MORE than that, the Bible tells us that Moses tended the sheep in the wilderness of Sinai (Ex 3:2) the very area the Israelite’s were destined to wander for 40 years!

If you don’t hear anything else but this, please don’t ever despise small beginnings (Zec 4:10) because you never know what those seeds of service will blossom to become. You never know what the small and insignificant your Jethro is giving you will teach you, or prepare you for…I believe every act of service that is presented to us, every open door no matter how small, whether we can see it on the face of it or not has the potential to be a catalyst for growth in our lives.

What’s amazing though, and something we all need to be so careful of, even when Moses was promoted from shepherding sheep to people, he didn’t disregard Jethro! There’s a huge danger when we get promoted, when we feel we have ‘made it’ we think we don’t need advice or wise council anymore when we are at our most vulnerable. Always be willing to allow Jethro to give you advice and wise council.

In the famous words of Forrest Gump:“…that’s all i gotta’ say about that.”