When we see a large task before us it can appear to be overwhelming. In our desire to ameliorate the situation we may dive in and start to do a good work, but it may not be a God work. Jesus saw a daunting situation and He directed the disciples attention to the challenge before them:

Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)

It’s significant to note that Jesus saw the people. The disciples also saw the people, but did they perceive the need? Jesus saw them through the eyes of compassion. The word compassion signifies a deep seated emotional reaction. Do we have eyes of compassion to see the hurting people around us?

The words distressed and dispirited are in the perfect tense describing this as an ongoing emotional state. Jesus described them as sheep without a shepherd. Sheep is an apt metaphor to describe people because they are dependent and defenseless – we need a shepherd. Shepherds have a responsibility to protect the flock by leading and feeding the sheep. Jesus then gave them this principle:

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” (Matthew 9:37)

The difficulties we face in life may at times exceed our available resources to meet those demands. Spiritual maturity involves recognizing this truth and looking to God rather than yielding to self pity. Life is an adventure of learning how to face complicated dilemmas with incomplete information and trusting God with the results. When Judas bemoaned the paucity of their resources, Jesus admonished him:

For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me. (John 12:8)

The amount of our earthly resources should not discourage us – God’s resources are limitless:

Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest. (Matthew 9:38)

A spiritual problem requires spiritual resources and we are to go to God in prayer. The word beseech conveys the idea of earnest pleading. It is the prayer of faith that moves the hand of God. The phrase, send out, is a strong term that means to forcefully thrust forward. It is the same Greek word that was used when Jesus cast out a demon. The problem we have today is not with the harvest; it is the lack of laborers. Are we praying to the Lord of the harvest? It is significant to note that the Matthew 9 prayers became Matthew 10 laborers – they became the answer to their own prayers.

Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. (Matthew 10:1)

Rick Higgins

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark