“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” John 4:35
Have you ever heard someone say, “I’ll believe it when I see it”?
We can’t ‘see’ electricity but if we touch a live electrical cable we’ll be left in no doubt that electricity exists whether we believe it or not! Or have you ever noticed when a plane’s propeller reaches a certain speed it seems to disappear? Of course it hasn’t disappeared, it’s just operating at a speed which is no longer visible to the naked eye. So just because we can’t see some-thing, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
In our verse today, Jesus encourages His disciples to look into His heavenly kingdom. A supernatural world that can’t be seen with the natural eye. He tells them to “lift up your eyes and look”. They had to open the spiritual eyes of their heart and see by faith the harvest that Jesus had already provided. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “we walk by faith, not by sight”, meaning that our lives are defined by believing what God says in His Word and not by what we see with our naked eye when we look around at the often contradictory circumstances of our natural world.
As human beings we live in a world where we rely heavily on our five senses to help us understand and perceive the world around us - sight, touch, smell, hearing, and taste. Renewing our minds with the Word of God helps take our eyes off what we see in the natural and helps us to see the greater unseen reality of God’s kingdom and all that He has promised and provided for us. 2 Corinthians 4:18 says “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” The natural harvest that was seen was four months away, it was temporal and would soon pass away, but the unseen spiritual harvest that Jesus wanted His disciples to see is eternal and always ripe for harvesting.
Like the TV game show Catchphrase, we are conditioned to ‘say what we see.’ Some-times when we don’t see God’s harvest in our lives we can think that it’s not the right time and so we live in hope that when all the conditions are right the harvest will come. This ‘future harvest’ mentality towards God’s provision in our lives can rob us of entering into what God has already provided for us today.
Ecclesiastes 11:4 “Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.” Looking at our circumstances can paralyse us into doing nothing because we don’t think it is the ‘right time’. However, God’s Word is clear that the right time is today. 2 Corinthians 6:2 says “For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.”
So today, let's open up our eyes, let’s lift them up and raise them above the natural temporal world that we can see around us. Let’s look into that unseen eternal kingdom that is full of God’s unlimited resources. He has already provided all that you need so just reach out and receive it by faith, thanking Him for His provision, goodness and grace
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Who Do You Say I Am Series – Exchange Church Belfast 2020