on asking and obeying.

He told them, "the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field."
Luke 10:2 (NIV)



so once a month i volunteer in my church's JR church (we call it Faith Kids Worship). the second Sunday of the month is my turn to be "crowd control/small group leader/potty break leader" in FKW. for the past few weeks, the lessons have been on serving/leading, and the last time i helped in FKW, one of the key verses stood out to me and i've been thinking about it for a while.

 Luke 10:2.

the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
ask the Lord of the harvest.
to send out workers into His field.

i started to think about the times in DTS (the 6-month Discipleship Training School i did with YWAM) when the leaders would tell us to ASK God (or the Holy Spirit...depending on who was speaking :D) what He would have us do or give. and then ACT in obedience on it.


ask the Lord of the harvest. 

to ask is to say something in order to obtain an answer or some information.

ask the Lord of the harvest.
to send out workers into the field.

this verse isn't just about praying and asking God to send people into the missions field. praying for people to go into missions is all well and good, but i feel like there's more to this verse and also to our lives as followers of Christ.

there were instances during my 6 months in DTS when the YWAM leaders would say, "ask God how much He would have you give for this awesome fundraiser" (or something along those lines), and i purposefully wouldn't ask God.

i didn't ask because i knew if i asked, i would get an answer. and if i got an answer, i knew i needed to obey. so if i didn't obtain an answer, i could pretend that God didn't want me to give. i cringe when i think back to how selfish i was being. how many times did i miss out on God's blessings for being obedient? every time i refused to ask.

when we ask for something, 90% of the time we have no idea what the other person's response will be. and i believe that asking the Lord of the harvest is terrifying for most Christians. why?

because we don't know what He will ask of us.

if followers of Christ do not ask the Lord of the harvest, they won't receive an answer from Him.

"phewwwww. i mean, i didn't receive an answer from the Lord, so i'm off the hook, right? i don't have to go out of my comfort-zone. someone else will step up to the plate and do it. God's not calling me to Africa or Mexico. i can serve Him here at home..."

i heard a leader once say, "delayed obedience is disobedience". and i also think that refusing to ask is also a form of disobedience as well. because we know in our hearts that to be followers of Jesus Christ is to be obedient to what God asks of us, as well as to ask Him how (and who) we can serve.

do you get what i'm saying?

i think that followers of Christ often don't ASK God because,
a) God's answer might require THEM to do something (or give up something...or move somewhere far away),
or b) they might not like what God has to say.

i could tell you about several times when i have stood before God, worshipping, while being completely shut off from Him because i didn't want to ask or receive an answer. i am so guilty! and i won't tell you that because i've repented now, i will never be that selfish again...because that would be a lie. i am very capable of being that selfish Valerie again. in fact, it's something i struggle with daily. i'm preaching to myself here, too!

but what it all boils down to is this:

followers of Christ (myself included)! stop and think about what Jesus was willing to give for you. He gave His life so you could live. don't you think it'd be okay to ask Him what He would have us do, listen to His answer, and act obediently (and joyfully!) in response? after all, the best place to be is in the center of His will.

think about it. :)


PS. it may sound like i'm saying, "you're not a Christian if you don't ask God of the harvest", but that's not the case. if you are a follower of Christ, you ARE NOT going to lose your salvation if you don't ask God what He would have you do, or if you don't sell your things and go be a missionary. that's not what i'm saying. but what i AM saying is that God loves communicating with His children and God blesses obedience. the most important thing in any relationship is communication! talk to God, seriously, and listen to His reply! i think you might enjoy what He has to say. :)