The Harvest is Plentiful but the Laborers are Few
Matthew 9:35-38, Luke 10:2-12, John 4:31-38
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 9:36
And Jesus said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest…”
Luke 10:2
When we look out into the crowds we see lostness, and feel hopelessness and doubt. But Jesus looks out to see potential and feels compassion. As followers of Christ, whose main ambitions are to be like Christ, this ought to be what we see and feel too. We ought to feel an aching compassion when we look out to the crowds and see their need for Christ, but if we’re all honest, we can admit that this doesn’t come naturally for us. This is because as sinful people we are more naturally inclined to look inwardly rather than outwardly, toward fear and an idolatrous lust for comfort instead of risk and joyful obedience. We’d rather have what feels good momentarily – comfort, safety, and personal satisfaction – than take risks for the Kingdom of God.
When we look at the crowds (the harvest), our initial reaction to the sight of them reveals a lot of what we believe about God. When we look out and are doubtful, it reveals that we aren’t trusting that God is supremely sovereign. When we feel incapable of speaking the truth, it reveals that we are placing our trust in ourselves and our abilities and are doubting the power of the Holy Spirit within us. When we feel fearful of how the world might respond to our proclamation of the gospel, it reveals that we are placing our hope in this world instead of in God and his promises.
So, how do we go about acquiring the heart of Jesus? The answer may seem too easy, but we must pray, and pray, and pray some more. To put it plainly, when Jesus looks out into the crowds, and says “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…” and then follows that up with telling his disciples to pray earnestly for God to send laborers into the harvest, he knows that until God moves our hearts towards compassion and conviction, we won’t have compassion nor conviction. And until we have compassion or conviction, not a single Christian will be obedient to preach the gospel amongst the harvest even when it’s costly. God uses our prayers as a means to transform us into His likeness and to propel us to be partakers in His mission. When we pray for workers in the harvest, God gives us a heart for the harvest, and gives us the conviction that we must go to the harvest. We are the answer to this prayer.
Isn’t it beautiful that God is the great Farmer and we are his farmhands? We are God’s appointed means of reaching the world with the Good News of the gospel.
The Crowds in the World Today:
“The United States is only 26.41% Evangelical Christian”
“Only 4% of Gen Z have a gospel worldview”
“3.2 billion people around the world are currently unreached with the gospel, and many of them endure unimaginable suffering. A people group is considered unreached when less than 2% of the population is considered Christian – they will likely be born, live, and die without ever even having the opportunity to hear the name of Jesus.”
“One-in-five U.S. adults (20%) now describe their religion as ‘nothing in particular,’ up from 14% who said this 10 years ago.”
Let us pray that God would give us his eyes to see potential and his heart to feel compassion when we look at the crowds in the world today. Let us pray that the Lord of the harvest would send out laborers into his harvest. Then, let us be obedient to be the answer to that prayer by going into the harvest ourselves.
Reflection Questions:
What idols or worldly desires hold you back from partaking in the mission of God?
What crowd has God surrounded you with that you need to pray for and live towards? List specific names that come to mind.
What crowd/harvest (maybe on that list above) do you feel compassion towards and how might God be asking you to go to them now OR in the future?
Take some time to pray that God would give you his heart for the people around you IN THE PRESENT and give you the boldness to take the gospel to that harvest. Then, take some time to pray for compassion for places/peoples around the world that don’t have access to the gospel. Pray a prayer of surrender and willingness to go wherever God might call you to go to partake in his mission IN THE FUTURE. (Check out globe.stratus.earth to learn more about harvests all around the globe.)
