Lord of the Harvest​

By Helen Jesze, 16th October 2015

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.​Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest”

Matthew 9, 37 and 38 NIV

W​e are now already in October. September, the time of harvest – sometimes stretching even into October ­­ has come and gone, and the fields of waving corn and wheat have now all been cut down; only short stalks and stubble remain. The sweet, sweet smell of the Rapeseed flowers – bright yellow fields stretching into the distance, beautiful as they were, only told that a harvest was to come, and the oil which would be won from them was the main and most important thing.

I remember that on one “Songs of Praise” television programme it was about harvest, and several actors from the seemingly eternal British radio serial “The Archers” were interviewed. As a little girl of seven on holiday with Grandad and Grandma, after tea at 6.45 pm, on came the well known tune… and we all had to sit as quiet as mice while Grandad heard the next episode. I was terribly sad when Phil Archer’s farm caught on fire and his wife, Grace, was killed. “The Archers” are still going, I hear, although “Emmerdale” seems more popular nowadays!

If not living it through a fictional farmer’s family, many of us may have grown up in the country where in Autumn the harvest was gathered in – golden stocks standing high in the fields to dry, the sweating and laughter of the haymakers, the gathering of plump blackberries, and the old village church where pumpkins flashed orange next to piles of cabbages, marrows and carrots, Michelmas Daisies and Golden Rod flowers hanging over the bowls of pears and apples which flanked the stone pulpit, while we all nearly raised the roof with “We plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land…”.

A large percentage of the world’s population live where there is famine or war, little food in the shops or no rain to water the pitiful patch of land where they are desperately trying to grow some vegetables. Every day is a struggle just to have enough to keep alive. However, many people who will be reading this live in a country where there are bountiful harvests, and they have perhaps never known what it means to be really hungry. God has provided so many good things for us to eat and drink, and we should be grateful for His love and provision to us, and try not to waste food, but to buy and cook wisely.

The miracle of seeds and their growth never ceases to astonish me. In the Egyptian pyramids, everyday articles for living were buried with the bodies, as it was thought that they would need these articles in the next life. Among these have been found ​seeds, thousands of years old. Because of the excellent atmospheric conditions in the tombs, the seeds are perfect and have not decayed. Scientists have even ​planted the seeds and they have ​grown​!

The seed alone was not the main thing – ​it had to be planted ​and then cared for, to achieve the best harvest. Each seed that brings forth, brings forth more than itself. God has made it this way. If we said to a farmer, “Farmer Smith, you have ulterior motives! You plant one potato and expect that several will be produced from this one!” But Farmer Smith knows that the human race would have died out, if there was not this cycle of seed and a larger harvest.

Jesus spoke about the sower who went forth to sow his seed, and the seeds fell on different types of ground. The seed which came up and remained till harvest, brought forth 30, 60 and 100 fold. In our everyday life and also in our Christian life, we are sowing and harvesting ‘seeds’. We can sow seeds of unkindness, evil, carelessness, lies, depression and many other negatives by our words, actions and decisions. But we can also sow positive seeds of love, kindness, care, beauty, wisdom, truth and joy into the lives of others.

When we are believing God to bring forth some particular answer to prayer, some ‘harvest’ of what we have sown and it is long in coming, we often forget that it is with “faith and patience that we inherit the promises” of God. We hear many sermons about “Your time is now!” where the preacher is encouraging his listeners to believe God and ​take now by faith what they are believing for. When we have taken this “by faith”, we still may not immediately see that thing ​manifest​. When we heard those words we may have been all emotionally aroused, yet when the answer is not yet there for us to see, our feelings go down to zero!

God wants us to grow up, to become mature, and one of the marks of someone who is becoming mature in his or her Christian walk, is to realise that different seeds grow at different rates. They may not all bring a harvest at the same time, although God sometimes just surprises us and does the whole lot together! Let me illustrate what I mean. You may be able to believe God for Him to heal your body and be able to receive this easily. Yet you may find it difficult to believe Him for finances. That means you need to be built up in your faith in this other area. Don’t despair and think you are no good because you cannot believe the same for every need.

When the farmer brings in his harvest, he may use a sickle or scythe for a small patch of growth. But if he has large fields, he brings in a big combine­ harvester. If he does not have one himself, he will hire or borrow one, for large areas have to be harvested. If we have only just been believing a short while for God to do a certain thing for us, our seed may have grown only a little. Then we do not need to bring in a great ‘machine’ to harvest our crop. We do not need a combine ­harvester for two inches of growth! Our crop probably needs longer to grow and the time for harvest will come later. This is where faith ​and patience​ must have their perfect work.

On the other hand, we may have been believing God for something and it is growing stronger within us. His Word has taken root and is flourishing in our spirits. We feel an excitement within us and know that God is shortly going to manifest that thing. Then we need to get our barns ready for the harvest, order our combine­ harvester and make preparations, for our ​mega ­harvest ​is on its way! For instance, if you have been praying for a husband, then start to prepare for that. Learn to cook, to take care of the home. Let God deal with attitudes and other things in your life which could destroy a marriage. Believe God and show by your actions that you are expecting that to be manifest. Jesus said that He could see the spiritual harvest. He said to His disciples,

”​​Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.“

John 4, 35 NIV.

Jesus was able to see that some hearts were not yet ready, were even hard and cold, but He saw many more that were ready and searching for Truth. The problem, in His eyes, was not that the harvest was not ready, but that there were ​not enough workers​. We see this in our Scripture reading for today. Jesus went on to urge us to pray for more workers, or that the workers who are there already, should realise their responsibility and take it seriously.

The ‘Lord of the harvest’ is the Holy Spirit who is speaking to and wooing the hearts of men and women, boys and girls. Every born ­again Christian is a worker in God’s harvest­ field. We are to sow seed, to watch over and help it to grow and then to harvest it. All this can only be done with God’s help. We cannot change the hearts of people, but as we obey and sow our seed in the way and at the time that God shows us, we are working together with Him, and He will do the ‘bringing forth’, which leads to harvest.

In some countries, when the message of the Gospel is preached there is an immediate mega ­harvest. In others, there is more opposition and different methods might have to be used to reach the hearts and minds of the people. However, ​the message is the same although the ​method we might use could be different. God will show us the bait to put on our spiritual fishing­ line, to bring in the ‘fish’. Some fishes like a fly, others like a little worm or maggot, then they will bite, and the fisherman can reel them in. The ‘Lord of the Harvest’ will show us what ‘bait’ to use.

In this day of disruption, violence and with millions on the move, let us not despair but with our spiritual eyes, see what the prophet saw, when​​ he prophesied in Joel 3, 14​:

“Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. ​Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision…​”

P​rayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for every harvest that you are bringing forth in my life. Help me to watch over every seed that I am planting in my heart, and not let satan snatch it away. Great Lord of the Harvest, Holy Spirit, let me work together with you to bring in these ‘multitudes in the valley of decision’. Let my life count for eternity! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.