…but the laborers are few.
Harvest time. The culmination of a summer’s worth of hard work. All the planting, weeding, watering, and nurturing pay off in a flurry of production. Zucchini flowering in abundance. Tomatoes ripening left and right. Watermelon waiting to be picked. Cucumbers vining all over. Peppers exploding in a rainbow of color. It’s an amazing time!
Just the other day, as I brought home another harvest haul and was marveling at the plethora of vegetables, a verse popped into my mind. Matthew 9:37, “Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.’”
If you’ve ever planted zucchini and they take off, you are able to envision “the harvest truly” being “plentiful” in a whole new light. I mean you can’t even give those away because everyone else has so many too.
And at first, I was simply blown away by this new imagery of the harvest being plentiful. Wow! Yes! The harvest truly is plentiful!
In Matthew 9, Jesus was speaking to his disciples at a time when the crowds were following Him. He was offering the forgiveness of sins and healing many. “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them…” (Matthew 9:36). The harvest was great.
I have always heard this passage preached as a command for me to go out and reach souls for Jesus. “The laborers are few.” We need to be those laborers. Get out there now and start witnessing.! Go! Go! Go!
What first started as an ah moment, turned into a weight of guilt.
My guilt saying, “Who have you been witnessing to lately?” “Why aren’t you involved in more outreach ministries?” “Why aren’t you out walking the streets and spreading the news of Jesus?” The harvest is passing you by, and you aren’t doing anything for it.
Because it’s true. My sphere of influence is pretty small. The number of family and friends that I interact with routinely is limited. I attend a small church with few outreach options.
I’m such a failure. I’m not laboring as I should. I’m letting God down.
What? Hold up!
If you have ever felt the same as I felt at that moment, let me say now that those thoughts and feelings of failure and guilt are a lie from the devil.
Let’s instead look at some truths.
As a mom, my first ministry is to shine as a light to my husband and then to train up my children in the way they should go.
My labors are for my family first and foremost. That is my outreach. The field in which I work.
Down the line, God may bring other people and ministries into my path, and I need to be willing to work for the harvest. But. Right now, I sometimes feel at a stage where I can’t possibly add another thing to my plate, God sees and knows that. You see. God is the Lord of the harvest. Matthew 9:38, “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
It’s His harvest. He knows when the harvest is ready. He knows where it will be. In His omniscience, He places laborers in that harvest field.
So for now…
He has placed me in my family. And just like my garden, there is much joy in the planting, weeding, watering, and nurturing of my children’s lives.
God may open other doors for me to minister in, and if so, I need a willingness of heart to obey and be used for His glory.
If He knows I’m overwhelmed as it is, I can pray for the laborers that are out there working for the harvest. Praying (I feel) is often underrated but in truth prayer is an amazing gift and ministry opportunity that I can do anytime and anywhere. I can also support laborers that I know through financial aid or gifts.
With that knowledge, the guilt flees. I take heart that God is using me here and now. I am diligently laboring, and I pray to God for a harvest in my children’s lives. God of the harvest let my labor not be in vain. Save my children. Strengthen and bless those that are laboring in other fields. May the harvest be plentiful.
God, You are so good! Be merciful to us.
Take Heart at Home 