Equipping for the Harvest
As we wrap up this series, “Equipping for the harvest,” it should be clear to understand that there are two types of harvest: kingdom harvest and personal harvest. While we should expect harvest in our individual lives, kingdom harvest primarily focuses on the harvest of souls.
Kingdom Harvest
God desires to see all men saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. We are not in doubt about our understanding of kingdom harvest, and God has prescribed methods and tools for this work. In the context of our sharing, we use the word “sickle” for this harvest. If God instructs us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest, then those laborers are meant to labor in three ways.
Matthew 9:38 KJV Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
We labor in the gospel, which we capture as the “sickle of the gospel”. We labor in the place of intercession—the “sickle of intercession”. More importantly, there is no amount of labor in preaching that can be fully carried out without the “sickle of finance”. While we do not need money to pray, one of the things we intercede for is the provision to carry out the harvest. We pray that God will send men with large, open hearts to cause the gospel to progress by laying down their treasures and resources for the advancement of the kingdom.
These three dimensions are interconnected. You cannot talk about one without the others. It is not for us to say, “I will be a kingdom financier, but I will not pray or preach”. Even if you are predominantly called to finance the gospel, you must still pray and find a way to preach in your locality. The scope and magnitude may differ—you may not be the preacher at the crusade, but God can use you to provide innovative, modern equipment for the preaching of the gospel. You can partner with evangelists who are ready to go but lack the resources, saying, “Lord, I want to provide sets of equipment so that meetings can happen concurrently in different locations”. By doing this, you take the burden away from the preacher. Even if you are a corporate person without the time to be on the field physically, you pray that as they start the meeting, the power of God will move.
We are all laborers. Do not be deceived into thinking, “I am just a prayer warrior because it is easy.” Pray for the grace and capacity to be a laborer in every dimension—to reach out and to give. Finance is a tool for the gospel. In the scriptures, money was used in an attempt to disrupt the validity and authenticity of the gospel after the resurrection. If money was used from day one to disrupt the gospel, we must be intentional in using it to advance the gospel—dollar for dollar, pound for pound, and naira for naira. We must have a vision for this. Other groups are very intentional; they use their money, power, and influence for the cause they believe in. As a church, we must move away from being self-centered and mindful only of ourselves. We must continue to labor in these three areas: labor to preach, labor to pray, and labor to give.
Personal Harvest
Personal harvest refers to tangible, massive, and huge outcomes and achievements in various areas of our lives. It refers to individual success and progress in business, career, finance, and education. God is not angry when you are prosperous; your prosperity does not intimidate Him. Rather, He wants you to be prosperous. The apostles provided instructions on work and stewardship, which proves God is concerned about the welfare of believers. If they taught that “he that does not work must not eat,” it means they knew believers must work with their hands.
2 Thessalonians 3:10 KJV For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
Ephesians 4:28 KJV Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
These instructions were captured because some were lazy or busybodies. The apostles were addressing issues where people were taking advantage of the communal sharing in the church without contributing. God is mindful of these things. When you see a believer who is comfortable and rich, it is often because they understand and obey certain principles, not because God likes them more than others. There are fundamentals that, when embraced, will ensure your life does not remain the same.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 KJV To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
We have entered a season where the efforts of many years and the efforts of this season are coming together to bring a harvest. Consider the life of Joseph. If Joseph were a member of your church, you might conclude he needed deliverance or was cursed because he went from one trouble to another. But you must not label your situations wrongly.
Psalm 30:5 KJV For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
There is a “morning season”—a resurrection morning where every labor and effort comes together, and it looks as if all prayers and fastings are being answered at once. Just as a farmer waits for the harvest after clearing and weeding the land, we must be expectant of the days to come.
The Tool Kit for Harvest: Vision
The first tool you need in your “tool kit” for personal harvest is vision. If you do not understand that there is a harvest, you will not prepare for it. You must be intentional and sensitive to what God is doing. Some people resign themselves to “fate” (F-A-T-E, not faith), quoting scriptures to justify poverty.
Deuteronomy 15:11 KJV For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
But you must have an expectation for tangible outcomes. If you have a vision for a place of tangible harvest and success, you must be armed with that vision.
Habakkuk 2:2-3 KJV And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
I have a vision for better days and a better life. I see God doing greater things. I see a comfortable life where my old age is not full of trouble. Age is not a cage. Do not give up on life or resign to fate. We have hope in this world and in the world to come.
1 Corinthians 15:19 KJV If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
My hope for this world is that my life will get better, and God will yet beautify me. While I labor for the riches that do not perish in the world to come, I am not miserable here. God can give men wisdom, grace, and intelligence to invent and innovate. If this is part of your thinking, it will affect every area of your life. You will not be stranded. You will advance in your career.
Joseph’s vision kept him through all his trials. He knew where God was taking him regardless of the challenges. His gaze was clear. When you have this vision, it affects your speech, your reason, and your perspective. You will not think like a victim or a loser. You look ahead to what your life can amount to. Do not let the economy limit your vision. What do you see? Can you imagine earning a higher income or scaling your business globally?
Proverbs 23:18 KJV For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
When people have experienced much hardship, they tend to think, “Success is not for people like us”. But you can restart your life at any age. One woman decided at fifty to go back to school to become a lecturer because she realized her family had a grace for long life and she wanted to be productive until one hundred. That is vision. We must have personal vision and family vision. Where do you want to be in five or ten years?
We are incorporating expansion into our current church structure because I am seeing beyond where we are. Even though it costs more and we do not have all the money now, I understand that if we do not prepare the structure for a gallery now, we will weaken the building later. Money is not determining the vision; the possibilities of God are. I see abundance, increase, and expansion. The pit, Potiphar’s house, and the prison could not stop Joseph’s vision because he kept seeing the harvest.
The Tool Kit for Harvest: Continuous Improvement
The second tool for this harvest is continuous improvement. While Joseph had a dream of greatness, the dream alone did not place him on the throne. The “tool” that made the vision a reality was his capacity to interpret dreams—a skill he developed and matured in over thirteen years.
You may have a vision, but if you are not growing to the size and capacity of that vision, the harvest may remain a mirage. Competence and capacity development are required to bring the vision to pass. Joseph was maturing. By the time he interpreted the dreams in prison, he was humble, saying, “God will give the interpretation”. His maturity was evident when he finally met his brothers. If he had stepped into power earlier, he might have killed them out of revenge. Instead, he said, “It was not you that sent me here, but God”. He had grown.
Even when Pharaoh invited Joseph’s brothers to dwell in Egypt, he looked for competence.
Genesis 47:5-6 KJV And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee: The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.
Pharaoh was looking for “men of activity”—competent men—to be chief herdsmen. However, the brothers were not prepared. They had stayed in the village until their father had to wake them up because they were stranded.
Genesis 42:1-2 KJV Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.
Joseph’s brothers were “stars” in his vision, but in reality, they lacked the competence to fill the spaces Pharaoh offered. Competence is the “sickle” in the tool kit that brings in the harvest. You may be praying and fasting, but are you growing to the size of your vision? If the harvest comes and it is bigger than you, you will become the “prayer point”.
Are you growing or just aging? Age is a number; growth is an addition to life.
Genesis 47:8-9 KJV And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
Jacob spoke of the “years of his life”. Growth can handle most of your prayer points. Meaningful growth and competence can reduce your prayer list in career, business, and finance. As we trust God for this harvest, we must equip ourselves with clarity of vision and constant growth. We must speak the language of the season and reflect maturity and capacity.
Joseph was all-rounded. His character was dealt with, and his competence was undeniable. When he stood before Pharaoh, he made policy recommendations and provided innovation. Pharaoh recognized that Joseph had the capacity to take charge. God will not be partial and place an incompetent believer above a competent person just because he loves you; that would be injustice. To welcome the vision of promotion and enlargement, you must be getting ready.
A prepared man walking through an opportunity is a man walking through his harvest. Many of us have missed opportunities because we lacked preparation. It does not matter if you are angry with your boss; that will not solve the problem. You must fix yourself and be the best you can be. If an opportunity fell into your lap tonight, would you have what it takes to pick it up?
Let us pray that our hearts are aligned with the possibilities of God. Do not be like the brothers who remained the same for thirty years and ended up stranded. Ask the Lord to help your heart be aligned with His program and agenda.
Thank You, Father. In Jesus’ precious name, we pray.