Called, Prepared, Prayed-In, Released

This morning I was continuing my reading from Matthew's Gospel, and saw something interesting I hadn't realized before.  Here are the original verses I was thinking about - Matthew 9:35-38 NIV:

[35] "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. [36] When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. [37] Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. [38] Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

I was thinking about this very familiar passage, and the pattern that Jesus once again demonstrates, preaching the good news of the kingdom, then demonstrating the reality of the kingdom, by healing every disease and sickness. What is unique about this section is the comment about there not being enough workers - and the command to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out more workers.  I was thinking about that statement and the natural outcome of the prayer being to send out the twelve apostles.  When I turned to the next chapter, for these are the last verses of chapter nine, that is exactly what Jesus did, He sent out the twelve.

Now, that might not be a surprise to many, but my Bible application only puts one chapter at a time on the screen, effectively compartmentalizing the chapters.  Also, I have always tended to read my bible that way, usually focusing on a single section.  I more rarely will read large sections together and thus, in my daily reading sometimes miss these transitional occurrences.  I also don't have much scripture memorized and thus am often surprised by what I read next, as was the case this morning. Anyway, that's my rationalization for being surprised by Matthew 10:1, 5-8 NIV:

[1] "Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness."

[5] "These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. [6] Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. [7] As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' [8] Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."

My whole realization this morning is this simple principle we can extract from these passages.  Jesus will speak about and call people to pray about something before He moves in a significantly new manner.  In Mt 9:38 He tells the Disciples to ask the Lord to send out workers, and in Mt 10:1 He sends them out to be workers.  We may miss the significance of this transition, for in these two verses Jesus completely transforms His ministry and the speed at which He was able to share the Gospel.  Previously all ministry was effectively carried out by Him, as the primary teacher, healer and minister, at least according to the scriptural record we have received.  He had indicated His intention of having the disciples join in active ministry when He called them (Mt 4:19), at least we know that was true of Peter and Andrew, yet we see no real record of them participating in ministry, other than as subjects who Jesus was teaching.

So, if we put this all together, we have an initial call to ministry, a training period and time of preparation, a call to pray for the needs of the mission field for workers, and then a release of workers into the mission fields.  It is nice to see that the Lord will provide direction and guidance over a period of time.  I think many of us have some fear that God will call us to drop everything and go be missionaries or work in some ministry role tomorrow.  God is not in the business of seeing people fail because of being ill-prepared.  He doesn't just change His mind one day, and the next send an individual out to minister.  He is the Lord of all things, He is outside of time and sees everything, knows every thought and desires of our heart.  He has our entire lives to prepare us for all that is before us, so why would He ever do anything without plenty of warning and preparation?

Also, of note, when He is going to change things up, He calls us to prayer.  There are many historical examples of great revivals breaking out around the world, and in each and every instance, that I have read about, there has always been a call made by God to pray prior to His releasing the fire of revival.  There are always some number of people that have been specifically tasked with interceeding for the move of God over a particular region or people.  Sometimes they prayed for months or even years.  In this case, Jesus specifically told the disciples to pray for the release of more workers.  We don't know how much time transpired between 9:38 and 10:1, but it may have been a few days, possibly even weeks, but Matthew understood the two events were directly connected.

Finally, let us be encouraged in any areas where the Lord has called us, but not released us yet.  Let us be encouraged if we are in a time of training and preparation, or even if we are just recently joined to the followers of the Lord.  He does have plans and purpose for each of us, and He will direct us and guide us down the appropriate paths of preparation.  He will give us insight and understanding as we grow and mature.  We may not always understand His plan, purpose or path, but He is THE GOOD SHEPHERD and He will not lead us astray.  He will let us know when change is coming, and ultimately He will give us everything we need to be successful, including power and authority (Mt. 10:1).  He will give us the message and the proof that the message is true.  We need not fear that we are or will be unprepared, for the Lord is the most prepared individual in the Universe, in fact one could argue that He is the ONLY really prepared individual in the whole universe.  Let us entrust ourselves to Him, and join Him in whatever He is calling us to today!

Amen!