Steven Furtick - Open Your Eyes, Help Is Here
This is an excerpt from: Think Like a Reaper
Here's what I'm saying to you: you might be surprised who God uses. You might be surprised how he uses you. You might be surprised what he uses in your life. The fact of the matter is when God is using you, you don't always feel it. You don't. The feeling comes, but it doesn't come first. You have to obey Jesus when you see no evidence that your obedience is yielding anything. You have to instill in your kids certain values that you can only hope you're going to envision later in their life. But the disciples are the sowers. Right? No. This blew my mind. Jesus said, "The saying is true, 'One sows and another reaps.'"
That's how it works. Right? Jesus is like, "Yeah, that's how it works". Look at verse 38. He gives it a twist. "I sent you to reap what you haven't worked for". "Wait a minute. No, no, Jesus. We're the sowers; they're the reapers". Jesus says, "Not really". You always see yourself as a sower, but you never even realize how much you're already reaping. "I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor". That makes me think maybe you've been reaping and don't even realize it. Maybe you've been reaping, and the Enemy has you so focused on how hard it is to sow, how hard it is to show up, how hard it is to dig in, how hard it is to be you.
Wave at me if it's hard to be you. Yeah, it's hard to be you. How hard it is to be you. If the Enemy can only get you to focus on how hard it is… Or here's another one. If he can get you to focus on how hurt you are… I am sick and tired of people only talking about church hurt. It's a ridiculous distinction to call it church hurt. It's human hurt, people hurt. People hurt people. If you quit going to church, it wasn't because church hurt you; it's because you allowed the hurt to become greater than the harvest. This is what I want to preach. I've been preaching so many verses to get to this one.
Tell somebody next to you, "Oh, you've been reaping; you just haven't realized it yet. Oh, God has been good to you; you just haven't realized it yet". Now look at them and say, "Oh, you have help; you just haven't called for it yet". Now take about 13 seconds if you know Jesus is your help. I'm not letting this go. One might sit on me all day, but I'm not going down without a fight today, because God sent me on assignment to tell somebody that you have been so focused on how hard it is, so focused on how hurt you are, you have become blind to how much help you actually have.
That's why the Bible says, "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name". "Praise the Lord, O my soul…" Chris referenced it when he was leading worship, and I took it as a confirmation when he said it. "…and forget not all his benefits". Let me give you a list. "Who forgives all your sins". You didn't earn that; you reaped that. I couldn't earn forgiveness. The chasm was too wide. The gap was too great. My sin was too bleak. My shame was too great. But Jesus was greater. "Who heals all your diseases". Why is the only time we thank God for our health when we need to be healed? Why am I not thanking God for the stuff that feels good right now?
Look at that. Look at what I can do. That's a big deal. You say, "Pastor, did you have a shoulder surgery that you came through, and now you're really grateful you can…"? No. I'm praising him for the surgery I didn't have to have. The harvest is already here. So, the disciples are thinking about food, and they mean well, but they are missing the mission over a meal. Don't let what you didn't get keep you from praising God for what you have. Wherever he is sending you, please believe he has already been there, because he's the sower. I'm the reaper. He gave his life so I could live mine. He is the breath; I am the sails. He is the vine; I am the branch. I'm trying to get you to say out loud, "I'm reaping this. This life I have is a gift. This opportunity I have is a gift. This moment I have is a gift. This breath I have is a gift".
Breathe out his praise. If you were the Devil… I'm not saying you are. I'm sure you're an angel. But if you were the Devil, wouldn't you want to keep you from reaping? You've already cried. You've already shed tears over it. You've already been through the pain of it. Why would you cry over the seed and then not reap the harvest when it came? In Psalm 126, one of my favorite things the psalmist said was, "They that sow in tears will reap with songs of joy".
Are you so in your tears you cannot even reap what you cried for when it's here? The harvest is always here. I was talking to my mom about some things she went through in her past, and I was ministering this message to her, because she couldn't be here today. I can't do that for everybody, but I can do it for my mom. When she's not in church, I call her and give it to her personally. I told her, "I know it's hard," because of some of the things she has been through in her past. "I know it hurts and it didn't stop hurting, but God is with you in your hard place, and you have more help than you have hurt". She said, "Thank you for telling me that, because I get bitter sometimes. I start thinking, 'Well, where was my help when I went through the abuse? Where was my help when my husband was dying of ALS? Where was my help?'"
I realized the answer is always John 4:35. "Open your eyes and look. The harvest is here". "Open your eyes and look at the fields". "Wait a minute. The fields, Jesus? We're trying to get you to eat a meal. Eat, Jesus. Eat. The Samaritan woman… We'll deal with her". "No, no, no. I've already dealt with her. She's bringing me a harvest". Now watch this. This is mind blowing. I love the Bible, y'all. The tears in the passage belong to the woman who had been through so much, and the opportunity belongs to the disciples. Jesus said, "Open your eyes and look to the fields. They are ripe for harvest". "Yeah, Jesus, but we're not ready for the harvest".
Just because you're not ready doesn't mean it's not ripe. If you will open your eyes… That's the first tool you need: your eyes. The moment they opened their eyes… Let's pretend to be the disciples. They opened their eyes. Jesus is talking about a harvest, and coming their way are the Samaritans they hated. What do you do when your harvest comes looking like something you hate? This will be the test in this season of your life. Will you think like a reaper to say that even the regret…? We all have regrets. This woman had regrets. I'm sure she regretted every man she said yes to who had left her. But through the power of faith, you can reach into a regret and reap a lesson. So I'm harvesting this. It's hard for me right now, but I'm harvesting this, because those who sow with tears will reap with joy.
I came to call somebody today. The Devil has been reminding you of every reason you have to feel bad about yourself, every reason you have to feel resentful about your life, every reason you have to give up, throw in the towel, quit, duck, hide under the covers, not call anybody back until next Thursday, and delete your hope for the future. God said to remind you you have a reason to rejoice, because those who sow in tears will reap with joy. You, my friend, are one thought away from joy.