The Commands of Christ, Part Twenty-One

I am grateful that God has only ever asked of me things that, in hindsight, feel like small things. I know that in many of those moments, they didn’t feel small. But as I look back, God has not yet called on me to use my faith to move a mountain. He hasn’t asked me to give up things he hasn’t replaced with greater things. He has even restored some of the things He asked me to step back from. Perhaps it’s through growth that I say this, but God has never asked too much of me. He has certainly never asked more of me than He has been willing to assist me in completing. He’s awesome like that.

Yet, sometimes, no matter how much Kingdom work we do, all we can see before us is how much Kingdom work there is left to be done. It can feel overwhelming. One single guy, rambletyping from his keyboard can’t change the world. One small church might not be able to sway the religion, or lack thereof, within a state. There are going to be times in our walk, no matter our faith and dedication to the cause, that the harvest just seems like more than we can handle. Thankfully, Christ knew that was coming and told us what to do.

Matthew 9:37-38 (NASB20) reads:

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Translation: ask God for help!

I’d like to tell you a story about a brother in Christ that I love dearly. He has been a pillar while I rebuilt my walk with God and I think God put us in each other’s lives so we could lean on each other and draw each other back into a strong relationship with Him. Whenever I talk about the friendships I had to give up to follow Christ more closely that were replaced with one that’s greater, I’m talking about this guy. His name is James.

Several months ago, God put a burden on James’ heart that there was a lot of ministry the men of our church could and should be doing but there was no one bringing them together to do it. As a fellow lover of food, James came up with a grand idea: let’s all meet for breakfast one Saturday and then see what we can do about helping our local community. He talked to the church leaders, got approval then he set a date and over 20 men in our church showed up to enjoy breakfast and talk about God.

After a short devotional, James dropped the bombshell: “So guys, I think we have a calling to help in our local community. I’d like to start with someone in the church that needs help, does anyone know someone like that.” A name was a nominated. A need was explained. Then, one by one, men who had not really collaborated much before on a project like this spoke up on how they could help. Some could only provide hands. Some had access to professionals. Others were happy to bring their own tools and equipment. No one said no. No one expressed that they were unwilling to help. No one stated it was a bad idea. God moved.

When God calls us to do something, one of the Devil’s greatest tricks is to tell us that it’s something too big for us to do on our own. And, while it pains me to say this, he’s usually right about it. He tries to get us to focus on how small we are in comparison to what God is asking us to do. But that’s where this specific verse comes in!

Jesus delivered this command to his disciples after a long day of miracles and ministering to those in need. He saw the growing crowd and even Jesus understood what it was like to see more than a single human could handle. He knew what his disciples would be left with once he returned to be with the Father.

I said at the beginning of this command that God has never asked me to do big things. I still feel like that’s true. Why? Because supporting my friend and making sure he knew who to talk to and that I could see why God would ask him to do such a thing isn’t a big thing. Showing up early to help my friend get food cooked and ready to serve isn’t a big thing. God asking me to wake up early so that I can be a part of what He is doing and simultaneously show support for a brother in Christ that I cherish is not a big thing. To James, however, it was.

Philippians 1:6 (NASB20) teaches us:

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus

You may have heard this from other translations as “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.” There’s an old adage that is a misinterpretation of 1 Corinthians 10:13. The Bible is talking about temptation, but culture has changed this to be, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” That simply isn’t true. God will often give you more than you can handle, but that’s because he doesn’t want you to handle anything alone. That’s the purpose of the community we call the church.

Moses had Aaron. Elijah had Elisha. David had Jonathan. Abraham had Eliezer. Esther had Mordecai. Christ had the disciples. The disciples had the Holy Spirit. Just as the disciples had the Spirit, so do we. We also have our family in Christ.

The harvest is plentiful. And it’s more than any single one of us can handle on our own. But, if we plead to the Lord of the harvest to send workers, and we all work together, the harvest can be brought in.