Recently at early morning prayer in my local church, I thought of a couple of Scriptures that seemed to go so well together. 
“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35, NKJV, emphasis mine). Take note: the harvest is plenty.
“I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1–2, emphasis mine).
My attention was piqued, my excitement increased, and my spirit soared even reading the first few verses of that chapter. Take a quick opportunity to read the entire chapter. You will be strengthened.
Plant and Water
We look upward to a ripened harvest, understanding that we are invited to be involved and to partner with the Lord of the harvest. “We say that in the kingdom, ‘everyone gets to play.’ What we mean is that the work of the kingdom is not for heroes on the stage, but everyday people like us” (Mining for Gold, 79). I’m thankful He uses people from all walks of life, with all types of personal history.
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase” (I Corinthians 3:6–7, NKJV).
If we fail to see the Lord and people working together, we fail to see the divine partnership and what we can do together. #harvest #greatcommission #pentecostalpublishing Click To TweetSometimes I feel like Apollos—minuscule and insufficient—while God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. “And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament” (II Corinthians 3:4–6).
Together through Christ We Transform the World
We don’t embark on transforming the world based on our measure of faith alone: “For without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Let me remind you that we “can do all things through Christ who strengthens [us]” (Philippians 4:13).
Many have heard the old tale of the little mouse who rode on the back of a massive elephant across a bridge. Once reaching the other side, the mouse proudly exclaimed, “We really shook that bridge.” The elephant was more massive and powerful than the tiny mouse, but together they shook the bridge.
If we fail to lift our eyes to the fields, we will never see what we can do.
Here’s my concern: if we fail to lift our eyes to the fields, we will never see what we can do. Further, if we fail to lift our eyes to the hills, we will never see what Jesus, our great helper could do and will do if we partner together. If we fail to see the Lord and people working together, we fail to see the divine partnership and what we can do together.
My wife, Linda, recently asked on the Poitras Ponderings podcast, concerning the availability factor, “Am I willing to go wherever He says, whenever He says, to do whatever it is He has called us to do?” It begins with a vision, the ability to see our God-ordained future of what is best for us and for the kingdom. It starts with how we see.
Notice the Needs: The Harvest Is Plenty
Jim Sleeva, chair of urban missions at Indiana Bible College, says, “Exposure breeds a burden.” It’s hard to be exposed unless we are willing to see, to peek at the harvest. It is enormous and the workers are few, but the promise is great. In the end, Heaven will be filled with people from “every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). I want there to be people there as a direct result of my ability to see: to see what I could do to be involved; to see what God could do; to see what could be done when we work together; to see lost souls come to light.
I once heard a story of a boy on the school bus laying down all the time. He didn’t turn in homework.
“Exposure breeds a burden.” It’s hard to be exposed unless we are willing to see, to peek at the harvest. It is enormous and the workers are few, but the promise is great.
His teacher’s instructions were always to write about “what you see.” So when asked why he never did those assignments, the lad responded, “I never see anything.” He proudly told his friends when they asked why he always laid on the floor of the bus, “if I don’t see anything, I don’t have to do anything.”
The greatest sin of the church could very well be the sin of not seeing: soul-blindness. Robert Barnett said, “If you don’t see, you will not know. If you don’t know, you will not care. If you don’t care, you will not pray. If you don’t pray, you will not see people come to Christ!”
If you don’t see anything, you don’t have to do anything. What are you seeing lately? Anything? It may be time to lift and look.
Bio: Jim Poitras is the director of education and short-term missions for Global Missions with the UPCI.His passion is passing on truth to the next generation while mobilizing and encouraging a global work force to reach others.
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