Who will go?

As someone who has grown up in a Christian family, there's often a temptation to let certain verses or passages from the Bible that I've heard so many times to just slide over me like the way water slides over a dolphin's skin.

Sometimes I need to ask the Holy Spirit to help me fight that temptation and be intentional about re-examining, meditating on, or letting sink in what this specific part of His Word means for me in this season of life.

Sometimes the Holy Spirit just lets it hit me like a ton of bricks; it often hurts.  Other times, it's a gentle light bulb turning on that connects my heart and my mind.

Jesus says to his disciples, "Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest" (John 4:35).

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I've heard this verse, and the phrase, "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few," many times in my life, but there's something about hearing it recently that has really stuck with me and started to sink in a bit more than before.

Our Regional Director sends everyone stories of what God is doing among campuses around the NY/NJ region, and that's mainly where this repetition of "The fields are ready for harvest," has come up.  And God has been using this word and these stories in a number of ways to challenge me:

Celebrate with my colleagues.  Maybe you don't really have this issue, but I realize that when I'm not trusting Jesus and am placing my identity in my work rather than God Himself, it's easy to be insecure, envious, or jealous of the fruit my colleagues are seeing in their students and among their campuses.  Over time, with intentionality, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, I've been challenged over and over again to trust and obey Him and place my identity in Him, not solely in the work I produce.  When I do so, I can experience the deep freedom and genuine joy of celebrating with my colleagues the fruit God has graciously given us the opportunity to partake in and witness.

Healthy discontentment.  That being said, instead of feeling resentment that I am not seeing the kind of fruit my co-workers are seeing, these stories and reminders that the harvest is plentiful create a desire for me to keep pushing forward and build upon a confidence that God is working on RIT's campus.  We cannot stay where we are.  

A sense of urgency.  I don't know about you, but when I hear, 'Lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest,' I don't hear Jesus saying, 'Hey, the fields are ripe!  That means it's time for you to kick back in your lounge chair and wear a pair of shades.  Here, have an exotic drink with a paper umbrella in it.  Just sit back and get ready to watch all of these ripe fruit pick themselves while you relax and be as comfortable as possible.'  I don't hear Jesus saying, 'You're right - let's keep this scarcity mentality until something worthwhile happens; there's no immediate work to be done, so you can wait a few months until all of the circumstances are perfect and your life is in order.'

I hear Jesus saying, 'There is more than enough fruit ready and they're ready now.  What are you waiting for?  The question is not When? or How? but Who?  Who will go, right here, right now, just as they are?  Will you?'