There’s an old movie called, The Man Who Knew Too Much. There is a good book called, The Know-It-All. I recommend listening to it rather than reading it. It is much funnier when you hear the author tell his stories about what he learned by reading the complete Encyclopedia Brittanica. Note: There are some uncomfortable moments in the subject matter contained therein as you might expect.

Someone may write my life story one day. It will be equal parts comedy and tragedy. The distinction between these two is that comedies are stories with happy endings and tragedies are stories with unhappy endings. Yes, this is a gross oversimplification. Some unhappy endings are quite satisfying. For example, consider Batman: The Dark Knight. 

Back to my life story, if I may. I am The Man Who Does Too Much. This comes from the reality of being interested in almost everything worth knowing. God granted me a Border Collie fascination with work and play, but without the Border Collie focus. That focus has them always prepared to work. 

Stray tennis balls lying about the house? On it. Younger dog jumping on a guest in our home when she has been told a few hundred times not to do that? Take her by the ear and pull her away. 

One of the consequences of Trying To Do Too Much is not getting everything done. Everything gets started, but not everything gets finished. I can blame my DiSC profile. I am an I/D. I love new ideas. I love turning ideas into action. I also enjoy turning over new processes to someone else to finish. Sometimes, there is no one else who can finish what I started. This is where my biggest problems come from. 

Again, an example. This is a busy travel week. I left Sunday afternoon late for Kansas City. Some wise leaders from Austin and San Antonio and I were scheduled to meet the CEO and leadership team of a group who works with churches struggling with declining membership and escalating financial problems with their buildings. 

I live near two major airports. I could not get a flight on Monday morning that would get me to Kansas City in time for the meeting. Go figure. Being gone all day Monday put me behind in my email. I led online training and had in-person meetings most of the day on Tuesday. I traveled here to San Diego for several days of meetings yesterday after leading more online training and attending to pressing details (Wednesday). 

Just before bedtime last night, I realized I was a day late on an extension of time for a project that was already two days late. That’s three days late for those of you keeping count. I was so tired and sick at my stomach from an ill-chosen meal, I could only think about taking medicine and going to bed.

Fortunately, I live on Texas Time. This is true even after I arrive on the Left Coast. I awoke fully alert a few minutes before 3 AM. I finished the late, late, late report and three apology emails around 6 AM local time. 

He who attempts to do too much actually ends up doing too little. I need to remember this bit of wisdom. 

Go back up to today’s text. Read Moses’ conversation with God. Of all the things Old Mo could have talked to God about now that he had his undivided attention, there was one thing that really stood out. Eugene Peterson paraphrases it well in The Message. We find it in verse 14: “God said, ‘My presence will go with you. I’ll see the journey to the end.’”
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Moses’ One Thing, his two word mission, was Experiencing God. Read verse 12 again. Read verse 13. Now hear verse 14 again: “The LORD replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’”

Moses wanted more than anything to know and experience God. It was the only way he could conceive of completing the outsized task God gave him. He knew he could not do it in his own strength. He knew he could not do it with the knowledge and wisdom he himself contained. He needed, he required, God. 

How do you hear what God says in verse 14? It is not a bad paraphrase to say, “I’ve got this.” Not only would God see the journey to the end, but he would do all the heavy lifting. This is what happened. The only complications came when Moses tried to do too much. 

“So, Dave,” you might ask, “what is God saying to you in this story?”

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