Open Your Eyes
Part 1 - Motives in Pursuing Movements
Part 2 - God Brings Movements
Part 3 - Anticipating a Plentiful Harvest
In John 4, Jesus was on the road to Galilee with his disciples.
Coming from Judea, they had to go through Samaria to get there.
When they came to Sychar, Jesus sat down beside Jacob’s well to rest a bit.
His disciples had left him alone & went into the town to grab some food.
We all know what happens next when Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman. They engage in conversation & Jesus reveals himself to be her long-awaited Messiah.
The disciples return & are surprised to find him talking with her but didn’t dare ask him any questions about it.
The woman returned to her town and told the people to come & see a man who knew all kinds of things about her. She wondered whether it really could be the Messiah.
As people from the town started out toward him, Jesus & his disciples engage in an interesting conversation.
He encourages them to “open their eyes” and “look at the fields” to see that they are “ripe for harvest.”
Why did he tell them this?
Were their eyes closed? Apparently so.
Were they not seeing the fields that were ripe for harvest? Apparently not.
What were they missing? We were about to find out.
Samaritans, the despised Samaritans, BELIEVED!
Not just a few of them. MANY of them believed!
The Samaritans were so excited they asked Jesus to stay with them for a few more days (a Jew associating with Samaritans — what?!?!).
And we all know what happened.
Jesus accepted the invitation.
Many MORE became believers!
And guess who almost totally missed it? The disciples.
They weren’t expecting this in Samaria.
This wasn’t the plan.
They’re trying to get back to Galilee to work among their own people.
They were just passing through Samaria. It wasn’t supposed to be a plentiful harvest field. This isn’t who they were hoping would respond. They don’t even associate with these people.
Their eyes were closed. They didn’t see the field that was ripe for harvest right in front of them. This field needed workers, namely THEM, and they almost missed it!
Jesus had to tell them, “OPEN YOUR EYES!”
The Lord has used this passage over the last year to begin to open my eyes to the fields that are ripe for harvest as well.
Like the disciples, I almost missed it.
I can become so focused on “Galilee,” the area that I’m working, that I miss what God is doing in “Samaria.”
Often “Samaria” is not a place we’ve been praying for. It’s not a place we’ve been working in. It’s not a place we even want to work. We’re not even sure if we want to associate with those people. And, if we’re being honest, it’s not the place we’re hoping movement comes.
We want movement to come in “Galilee!” Those are our people, the place we were called, the people we’re laboring among.
Of course there’s nothing wrong with working in “Galilee.” The only problem is if you miss what God is doing in “Samaria” while you’re waiting on a breakthrough in “Galilee.”
For many of us, here’s the way this has looked.
We’re laboring in America, our “Galilee,” and many are struggling to see generational growth. But we’re hearing about plentiful harvests overseas, in “Samaria” of all places. And instead of eagerly going to bring in the harvest in “Samaria” while waiting on “Galilee,” we can tend to think, “That’s not the vision. I’m called to work locally, not globally. I’m not a missionary. I’m pursuing movements here.”
And, as a result, we can totally miss getting to be a part of what God is doing!
I think Jesus is saying to some of us:
Open your eyes! Look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest!
How will you respond?
Are you willing to have your eyes opened?
Are you willing to look at HIS fields?
Are you willing to work in the ripe harvest in “Samaria” where the workers are few?
If so, what are you waiting for?!?
Open your eyes!