If you’ve been fasting food at any level, you’ve more than likely been hungry at this point in the fast. When we come to John 4, we see the disciples in a similar situation that we have found ourselves in. They were hungry! It was time for lunch, so they went into a nearby village to find something to eat. After successfully securing their meal, they return to find Jesus and offer him some food. Unexpectedly, Jesus denies their offer and tells them that he has food they know nothing about.

At this moment, the disciples are confused and are asking themselves if someone else brought Jesus food while they were gone. Jesus continues to say that his food is to do the will of the one who sent him. And as if the disciples aren’t confused enough, Jesus goes on to tell them a proverb about harvesting. It’s safe to say that the disciples were completely clueless about what was happening at this point.

The problem that the disciples had, which caused them to miss what Jesus was talking about completely, was that they were looking at the whole situation from their natural point of view. All that the disciples could see was their immediate need that they were hungry and needed food to eat. Jesus, on the other hand, was looking at the situation from a supernatural perspective. Jesus was not concerned with eating lunch. Jesus was concerned that the village they got lunch from was filled with lost people who needed to be saved.

So often in our lives, we can miss what Jesus is doing because we are looking at our situation with physical vision rather than spiritual vision. Like the disciples, we can find ourselves going through a place filled with people who don’t know Jesus, and our primary concern is not sharing the Gospel; it is getting something for lunch.

That’s why a season of prayer and fasting is so refreshing. We become less concerned with what we need and more concerned with what God wants to do in us and through us. When we take our eyes off ourselves and set them on doing God’s will, we start to see what Jesus meant that the “fields are white for harvest.” We begin to see opportunities to pray for people and see them healed. We start to notice people who are down and give them an encouraging word. We see lost people all around us and choose to step out in boldness to share the Gospel.

The opportunities are endless because the harvest is now. Resolve to step out in faith and obedience today and watch what God will do!

Scriptures

John 4:27-38 (NLT)

Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him. Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.” But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other. Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”