Pause and recognize need

My family has an often-quoted saying that you’ve probably heard or even used yourself.  Whenever someone can’t find something and then it is suddenly found right next to (or in front of) them, they’re reprimanded with the statement “If it was a snake it would have bit you”.  The point of the phrase is pretty straight-forward: if what you were looking for was dangerous, you’d be dead by now…so why didn’t you see it when you looked right at it?

Sometimes, it’s the milk in the fridge.  Other times, I can’t find my wallet.  I can’t tell you how many times my boys would walk through the house “looking” for their shoes, but for some reason they were not looking for them at floor level, the most likely place for shoes to be – and they would walk right by them.

It's amazing the things we miss that are right in front of us, if we’re actually looking for them.  Jesus’ disciples were not immune to this failing, either.  For our example, we’re dropping into a scene that is pretty normal for Jesus’ ministry:

Matthew 9:35
Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.

Jesus took His disciples everywhere, throughout all the towns and villages in order to tell the Jewish people that the long-prophesized Kingdom of Israel was available to their generation because Jesus is the promised Messiah.  Although Jesus was doing all the Messiah-type things (teaching, preaching, and healing every disease and every sickness), Matthew’s account gives us some specific detail about Jesus’ mindset as He interacted with the people:

Matthew 9:36-37
When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.”

Let’s pause right here.  Jesus wasn’t just administering His office of Messiah.  He wasn’t simply going through the motions, above all the “little people” and expecting the masses to follow because He held a title.  When Jesus looked at the crowds, He saw them.  Jesus saw their distress and recognized their dejected countenance.  Seeing this across the crowds, Jesus felt compassion for them.

This is a rather important observation.  For Jesus to recognize the pain and suffering of the people, He would need to be looking at them on an individual basis.  Recognizing this level of need isn’t something you can do with a quick-survey glance across a sea of faces.  He knew that Israel’s leaders had failed them.  Both the political rulers and the religious leaders had left the people to fend for themselves…and so they were like sheep without a shepherd, left to wander about on their own with no guidance, no assistance, and no protection.

Then He said to His disciples, “If it was a snake, it would have bit you”.  Ok, not quite…but pretty close.  Jesus told His disciples that there are plenty of people who desperately need to hear good news, but there are too few who know this and are willing to work to bring this good news to these distressed and dejected people. 

So what did Jesus tell His disciples to do?

Matthew 9:38
“Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

When was the last time you prayed that God would encourage and strengthen believers to tell others about the good news that our sin-debt is forgiven and we can have eternal life if we believe in Jesus for it?  There are so many in our society that long to be “seen” as Jesus saw the crowds.  They need to know that their pain, suffering, questions, struggles, and fears are recognized by someone who has compassion on them.  Even today, Jesus’ statement is still true: The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.

Praying for us to recognize need and for other believers to recognize need is an important step – but not the only step.  Honestly, prayer is just the first step.  We find Jesus giving the second step a few verses later:

Matthew 10:5
Jesus sent out these twelve after giving them instructions

After praying that God’s people would participate in God’s mission – we need to get to work in the areas that God has sent us. 

Let’s be real practical and intentional with this:

To effectively see people and see their needs like Jesus did, we need to slow down.  We can’t help someone with a flat tire if we’re flying down the left lane of the interstate.  Similarly, we won’t be able to recognize those who are ready to hear some good news if we’re consumed with the busyness of our own lives. 

Pray about it.  Slow down enough to see people where they are.  Have compassion.  Share the good news.

Keep Pressing,
Ken