Steven Furtick - It's Not A Flaw, It's A Feature
I want you to know that he sees what the seed of you can be, but clean seeds don't yield fruit. Am I being too obtuse today or something like that? It would have to go in the dirt to become something. It would have to break apart to become something. It would have to go through the shedding of its former self to become a harvest.
And the thing that amazes us about it is that he was talking to a woman which should have made her, let's talk about this for a moment, which should have made her a waste of time in this culture. Okay, not only was she a woman, but when you read John 4 tonight, because I know you're going to do it, when you read John chapter 4 tonight, you'll see she has had five husbands and is living with number six.
So, of all women, Jesus if we're going to start a women's ministry, if we're going to start an evangelistic project in the region of Samaria, maybe I can recommend some more qualified candidates? And Jesus's like, "No, I need this one, because I need her to bring the men to me. And what she has been through that should disqualify her makes her the perfect person. She is positioned, even though she doesn't have the right pedigree, she's positioned."
See, all the men that she's run through before has prepared her for this moment to meet me. Now she is at the end of knowing, no other man can do this, no other man can forgive sin, no other man can change my life, no other man can elevate my dignity, no other man can show me who I really am and what I've done and make sense out of it. And so, since she's at this point since, she's been through all these men, what you think is a flaw is actually a feature. Let me say that again: what you thought was a flaw about you is actually a feature.
Isn't that what Paul said, "In my weakness I am strong". In my weakness I am strong. And Jesus saw this woman not only as a single individual, for he saw her that particularly, he also saw her as a harvest. And you know what blew my mind reading the passage? The people in the village saw her as a hure, Jesus saw her as a harvest. And that's what we do man: we tell people how God sees them. That's what we do. We tell them that where they've been is only the raw material of what God can build for their testimony, as they can comfort somebody else so that somebody else doesn't have to go through what they went through.
That's what we mean: put God's word in somebody's heart. We are not just planting seeds, we are seeing the harvest of what their life can be. After all, what does a seed need to become a harvest? Yeah dirt. I kind of said that one already, I thought you'll give me the next one. Some light, the Word of God is light. Dirt, light, huh? Where is this conversation happening? So is he talking to a woman or is he talking to a seed? Everything matters in the scripture. There is a reason this is happening at a well is because this seed needs some water.
Touch your neighbor say "Water your harvest". Your water your harvest. The things that we complain about, the things that we feel insufficient, the inadequacies and insecurities, some of those things that you think you don't have are seeds that you haven't watered yet. A harvest is a seed that has been exposed to dirt, that has been exposed to light, that has been exposed to water. So when I said the title, I said "What are your harvests", but now I want to turn the question into a command: for everybody who has been complaining that you're not enough - water your harvest! Which doesn't look like a harvest right now, it looks like a seed, but a seed is just a harvest that hasn't had the right environment yet.
So, some of the things I might need to preach this Sunday, some of the things in your life that aren't there yet, you stopped watering. And you stopped watering because it didn't poof out the oven, and you stopped watering because you were too hungry so you said, "Well, I can't afford to wait on this, I just need some burger king". Did you notice? Let me show this real quick, this is so good, oh this is so good, this so good, it says, "Meanwhile his disciples urged him, 'rabbi, eat something'. But he said to them, 'I have food to eat that you know nothing about'. Then disciples said to each other, 'somebody brought him food'? 'my food', Jesus said, 'is to do the will of him who send me and finish his work. 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. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvest a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together'".
They are so focused on trying to get Jesus to eat something, and Jesus is trying to get them to to reap something. Again, we are so focused because we are humans, because we are people, because we are weak, because we are susceptible, because we are sheep who are trying to be shepherds, because we have this treasure in earth and vessels that the excellency of the power might be of God, and not of us. And so in these bodies, we eat, we feed ourselves, "I need something to numb me 'cause it hurts sometimes, and I need something to numb me 'cause I don't feel good right now, I need something to feel something 'cause I'm numb right now, so I eat, I eat", I'm not just talking about physical things, I'm talking about all the things that we do that work short term, but block eternal purpose.
Jesus eat something, and Jesus says "Reap something". I'm trying to reap something, and all you want to do is eat. All you want is a hamburger, I want a harvest. I want a harvest. What are the things that you believe in enough to skip a meal? Are you missing a miracle 'cause you won't miss a meal? Some people won't be embarrassed so they won't learn, they won't go through the temporary humility of asking a question so pretending to know it all, we just carry the burden. Some people won't discipline themselves for the short term because it seems painful at the time. I've been there, I've been to the point where all I wanted to do was eat, physically and emotionally, I could use any, I could I could I could apply this on every level. And I found out about God's focus, that he sees a harvest, and it's ripe now, okay?
This is the part of the message I wanted to give to that part of us that's still stuck in January, one day when, I want to give you this part for that times. "Yeah, well, okay, when I get the right team, when I get the right opportunity, when I get the right..." Jesus said, "I'm not looking for the right time, I'm looking for the ripe time", and that will sometimes come in the form of tension, because when we pray for transformation God answers with... Where's this miracle happening? Samaria. That's not the right place for an evangelist to be raised up. No, but it's the ripe place. "But they don't have me in the right spot on the team". Well, if you're not in the right spot, that's a ripe spot, because you're going to learn things, and God's going to strengthen you in ways so that at the right time you will have the right stuff.