A Path Among the Rocks

He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.

Luke 10:2

I love the springtime.  Everything starts to grow and bloom.  It’s Spring break in the early weeks of springtime, and one of my happy memories about that glorious week away from the responsibilities of school work was an opportunity to earn a little “spending money” as my dad would call it.  If the timing was right to fall on the week of Spring break my family and I would go to our nearby relative’s farm and pick strawberries in his fields.  Our labor resulted in our cousin being able to take the picked strawberries to market to sell.  He always had several acres of strawberries, so the more you were able to pick, the more money you would earn.  I didn’t get to do this every year during Spring break because the strawberries had to be ripe for the harvest.  If the strawberries were picked too soon or too late, the price would be lower or he might not be able to sell them.  The condition of the strawberry was the key, so the timing of the harvest was important.

My cousin was a wonderful man and his youngest daughter and I grew up together. I was at their house a lot during my childhood.  He must have thought a lot of me too because, unfortunately, I probably cost him a lot of money during strawberry pickin’ time as I actually ate more than I picked.  I wouldn’t come home with a lot of money, but I always came home with a tummy full of wonderfully delicious strawberries! 

Our verse today also speaks to a harvest that’s ready for picking.  Unlike the springtime strawberry pickin’ events where there were always plenty of harvesters to come to pick the strawberries, this harvest waits for those that are willing to step into the fields.  Sharing your faith might seem intimidating and scary, and I think that if we try to complicate it with fancy words and theological sermons, it would be both of those things. I know it certainly would for me.  But, really, it’s more about just sharing the joy that you have because of your own salvation and how Jesus has changed your life.  I don’t think anybody can stand and say that they were perfect before they accepted Jesus and are even more perfect now as part of their testimony.  No one is perfect and we all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), but, just like that little girl who ate more strawberries than she picked, she still got some strawberries to the counting shed, and we can all contribute to the kingdom in some way.  Faith and salvation are a gift given to us through the grace of Jesus Christ.  My cousin shouldn’t have paid me because of all those strawberries that I ate, but he did anyway.  Grace extended.  God extends that same grace to the harvester that may be shaking in their boots but is still is trying to share something about the Lord, even in a small way.  More grace extended.

In our verse, Jesus is talking to His disciples, telling them as He was sending them out to share the Good News, that more laborers were needed and that they should pray for more people to come to help with this most precious harvest.  We should do the same.  Pray for those who are out there harvesting.  Pray that they might continue in their ministry and to be strong and courageous.  I can tell you from personal experience, they need those prayers.  Pray for those that have a burden and a fire burning in their hearts to speak a word that the Lord has given them to speak but perhaps they are unsure of themselves and are afraid to take that step of faith.  I can also tell you from personal experience, they need those prayers too.  Jesus says that all you need is faith like that of a little child (Mark 10:15) to receive the kingdom of heaven.  Your story can be a marvelous opportunity to share with someone who desperately needs something simple, not complicated or confusing. It might even be your own strawberry pickin’ memory that can be used to encourage someone that may need it today.

Now, being a well-trained expert on the deliciousness of those strawberries, I can assure you that it wasn’t just the biggest and the prettiest strawberry that tasted the best.  Sometimes, there would be smaller strawberries that might not have looked so impressive to the eye, but the taste was absolutely wonderful.  I know this because I pretty much tasted every size and shape while on the job.  The same can be said for us in our acts of service to the Lord.  It isn’t just the big things that count – it’s the little things too.  I’ll give you an example of that.  We have a friend that came to our house the other day unexpectedly.  Our friend is usually laughing and very joyful, but on this day he was serious.  At first, we thought something might have been wrong, so we asked about him and his well-being.  He was fine he said, but I could tell that there was something that he needed to say that was important.  He explained to us that the Lord had put a burden on his heart for a local ministry we are involved in as part of an after-school program at our church.  Just the night before he said he prayed to the Lord about it.  Now, he didn’t say what he prayed, but I could tell from what he said and his demeanor, that he had prayed to surrender to that burden and to tell that Lord that he would make the choice to be available for what the Lord might have him to do should the opportunity arise.  The very next day, the day he came to visit us, he started his day at the coffee shop.  A friend came in and began to talk, without any prompting, about the after-school program and the children because his wife volunteers there too.  Our friend knew that this was a prompt from the Lord in answer to his prayer.  When our friend finished his visit at the coffee shop, he came directly to our house to ask my husband how he could be of help.  Today, he is helping in the kitchen cooking hot dogs and hamburgers for the children.  He is a harvester.  You see, the Lord will place the burden of your harvest on your heart just as He did with our friend, and if you are willing to surrender to that burden, the Lord will then open the doors for you to step through and fulfill the calling that He has for you in that season.  That might seem like a small strawberry in the grand scheme of things but our friend’s sacrifice and willingness to serve was the sweetest offering to the Lord.   

I would encourage you to ask the Lord to give you the eyes of a harvester, to give you the simple words of joy and the Good News, and to give you courage and wisdom to speak or to act or to volunteer when the Holy Spirit prompts you. What I can promise you is that, if you are willing, He will send the harvest to you just like He did with our friend.  I could give you a hundred other examples of situations just like that where the Lord moved quietly and beautifully in someone’s life to put them in their harvest field. 

Father, I pray for these dear readers today.  I pray that you would help them see opportunities that you have ordained specifically for them to share their simple message of faith whether that’s through words or actions or prayers.  We thank you that you made the path among the rocks easy for us to follow.  I pray that you would bring the harvesters into the field, Lord, that we all might share in Your gracious bounty and have hearts full of love and commitment to bring the harvest into the counting shed.

For to be sure, He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in Him, yet by God’s power we will live with Him to serve you. 2 Corinthians 13:4

Proactive Verse: Ephesians 6:19 – “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel..”

Defensive Verse:  Philippians 1:6 – Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Promise: saiah 48:17 – This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.