Reach out to Gather

I don’t know about you, but during this time it has been easy to slip into laziness. There is a fine line between relaxing and being lazy. I’ve had people reach out and ask me how I am staying connected to God during this time because they feel so disconnected. The discipline it takes to stay connected to God is like building a muscle. You don’t usually jump into lifting 100 pound weights, you should slowly progress and add weight as your muscles get stronger. The same is true with building up spiritual disciplines. You don’t just jump in and say you’re going to spend an hour in prayer, you build up to that. But if you don’t ever start, you will never see that growth.

The same is true for harvesting a field. I can only imagine what it would be like to be out in the heat for 12 hours a day, gathering in a crop of sugar beets or potatoes. It is not something that most of us spend our time doing. If we were to jump right in and try to keep up with those who were experienced we would find ourselves overwhelmed and exhausted. But if we never start, we never get the joy of gathering the harvest.

Proverbs 10:5 speaks directly to this dilemma. It says, “

 He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,

but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.”

If we remain in a lackadaisical state, we will never know how to reach out and gather.

The process of harvesting souls is usually a slower process. Unless you are attending a large gathering of people in some sort of revival tent, you won’t always see mass amounts of people coming to you wanting to know how to be saved. Jesus spent the majority of His time with twelve disciples and a few other women who joined Him as He traveled around. These were the people He entrusted with His message. He did minister to the crowds, but the majority of His time and attention was focused on cultivating that small band of followers.

He taught them how to pray, He modeled for them how to handle stressful situations, He explained to them how He thought and perceived the world around Him. He shared meals with them and traveled with them. He lived life with them.

As you grow in your faith and you become more and more faithful to what God has placed in front of you, He will entrust to you people who are lost or those who are wanting to be discipled.

We are called to make disciples, those were Jesus’ last words before He ascended. But for some reason we don’t do it and it’s because we are intimidated by it. We don’t know where to start. So it’s just easier to sit back, slip into laziness and watch as the field which was once ripe rot.

So how do we build the endurance we need to reach out and start the process. First we must have a thriving relationship with Jesus ourselves. The last week and a half has been a process of showing you that you have what it takes. You have a story, you have the opportunity, you love Jesus, now it’s time to take action.

As you see people around you who are hungry for God, start by praying for opportunities to reach out then do it. It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture. Maybe ask them over for dinner, or go have coffee together. Some people might even seek you out. They might say they value your advice, or they’re grateful for your thoughts or prayers. This could be an invitation into their lives. Don’t be lazy with it.

People need to learn how to pray, how will they learn if we are unwilling to teach them? People have a lot of questions about the bible, how will they ever figure it out if we are unwilling to guide them through the process? People want wisdom and they know that somehow you are able to give them some, how do we teach them how to seek if for themselves?

It can be intimidating to reach out and then walk through this with people. Here’s a common question, what if I don’t know something they ask about? This happens ALL the time to me. I have a forgetful mind and people will ask me something and as they’re asking I am praying. A lot. Praying for the Holy Spirit to remind me of the answer, or for wisdom. Jesus said in John 14:26, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” This verse brings me great comfort and courage. It’s up to Him to help me remember!

If you don’t have an answer, be honest! Tell them you don’t know but you will find out or you can search it out together.Invite people into your life. Even the messy bits.

It can get hard, you can feel like you’re ill-equipped, not strong enough or mature enough.

All of these feelings are very familiar to me. I’ve been doing this for a long time and still I have mentors that have to speak this verse over me. 2 Corinthians 3:4-6, “Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

There is something so comforting in the fact that God is the one who makes us competent, that we have the Spirit leading us and they never fail!

As we grow in our abilities to reach out and disciple others we must always remember to stay the course. Don’t give up. When things get hard out in the field, the harvesters don’t just throw up their hands and give up, they spur each other on. This is what we will talk about tomorrow. But for today I want to leave you with this encouragement.

Galatians 6:9-10, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Amen!

The New International Version. (2011). (Ga 6:9–10). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. The New International Version. (2011). (2 Co 3:4–6). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. The New International Version. (2011). (Pr 10:5). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 14:26). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.