Speaking of harvest reminds me of a story that goes like this.
Once, there was a family who had a large field. They were happy and the children loved to play in the field and watch their parents sow the seeds. Every year, it was the father who would drive the tractor to harvest the field, and the eldest of the family together with his mother would help in storing away the harvest. The younger siblings were still too young to help so they could only watch from afar.
But this year, something changed. The father fell gravely ill, and could no longer work in the field. A few months later, he died, just before it was time for the great harvest. The whole family was devastated, and the eldest child asked the mother, “Mum, what are we going to do? The harvest is coming soon and there is so much to do.” The mother replied, “Don’t worry, my child. Just keep praying and miracles will surely happen.” So the family came to the Lord in prayer, and the eldest child prayed that God would send help in their way. Soon it was time to harvest the field; the grains were shining golden in the sunlight. It must be harvested in time so that it wouldn’t go bad.
Just when the family was about to give up hope, they heard voices and sounds of engine from afar. The mother looked and saw a group of people heading their way. It was their neighbors, friends and relatives who had heard about their tragedy. In those time, for a neighbour to visit would take a few hours because the field was so large, they were the only family around the area. But the neighbors came despite of the distance and in a short time, the harvest was completed and everything was harvested in time.
My friends, I believe the child who was worrying so much must have an experience he could never forget, because he prayed for workers and God provided. But there is another harvest that is too ready for harvest. And that is God’s harvest.
In Luke 9, Jesus had chosen the 12 disciples whom we are familiar with, and had preached about what it meant to follow Christ. In Luke 10, Jesus sent out 70 disciples, 2 by 2, into the places and towns that he was about to go (Luke 10:1). These are believed to be those who have been listening to Jesus’ teaching over the past and have come to become his disciples too. Their job was to go and bring the Good News of God’s Kingdom to the places that they set their foot in. These disciples were not scholars, but ordinary people with a passion to serve God. God also sent them out 2 by 2, so they could help one another.
Step Out
From here we can see that God uses people who are willing to serve Him. God never gives you a task that you can’t do. When He calls you to do something, He will give you the strength to finish it too. All you really need to do is to step out, have faith and do your best. Also God would pair us up with other believers, because teamwork is important when serving the Lord.
Just before that, Jesus had just told them about the things that people needed to do in order to follow him. Jesus told the 70 disciples about the harvest, saying that it is plentiful, but sadly the workers are few (Luke 10:2a). Jesus was sharing the vision that he received from the Father with the disciples so that they can see the needs of man. He then told them to pray to God so that God would raise up workers (Luke 10:2b).
Powerful Prayer
As a Christian, we need to know how to pray. Prayer is a connection between us and God. I believe many of you know how to pray and have prayed for missions countless of times. God urges us to pray, because when we pray, He listens and answers them in His time. Many missionaries have shared stories that miracles which happened because of the prayers back at their home country.
One of the stories was shared by an OMF Missionary who was serving in Africa at his home church in Michigan saying that he was protected by a group of angels when camping over night in a forest. The number of angels watching over him was the exact number of those praying for him that very day back home in Michigan. From here we can see how powerful prayer is.
Here comes my favorite part, after Jesus told them to pray, he told them to “go”! Jesus sent them out like sheep among wolves! (Luke 10:3) They couldn’t just pray and wait; they had to step out too.
We all can pray, but when God says go, we tend to shy away or make excuses. One of the reasons is because we know that this is a calling to step out of our comfort zone.
I remember when God called me to serve fulltime, I was reluctant at first. I had great opportunities in front of me. My biggest dream was to study abroad, maybe to Taiwan or Australia to take up Media studies. I wanted to be a DJ or a reporter. So when God called me, I was like, “No way am I going to study theology.” But the love for God’s people overtook my own desire and here I am now studying in MTS, experiencing many new things and on my road to serve the Lord full-time.
God’s mission is that all man should hear about the Gospel and we as the church are the only people that have the Good News and the biggest privilege to work with God. But sadly many Christians still don’t know what missions is and its urgency. Let me share with you how desperate it is.
According to Joshua Project, there are approximately 16,600 people groups, and approximately 6,900 people groups have not heard of the Gospel because they are either unreached or the least reached, meaning the progress in spreading the Gospel among them is slow and difficult. Most unreached people groups are located in Asia, with India at the top of the list, having 2034 unreached people groups. With so many people groups unreached, we really need to step out to involve in missions.
We are all fortunate to have missionaries who were willing to step out of their comfort zone and brought the Gospel to us. All the churches in Sibu wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the love of God expressed through the missionaries who were willing to serve God in another country.
What about us today? Have we settled down too well in our churches that we hear not the cry outside the church wall? Or you are telling God to send out workers but you.
God’s calling to be His workers is not a call to an easy life; it is a calling to a fruitful and exciting life. The harvest is ready, so don’t just sit and pray, get up and go. And you will see the beautiful harvest that is ready.