Pipe Theology

[00:00:03] Welcome to the Pursuing Faith podcast, where we explore questions of faith, doubt, and life. I am your host, Dominic Done. John chapter 4, verse 27 is where we're going to start today. And I want to share with you about being used by God, because I know that's our prayer.

[00:00:28] We sing it, we pray it, we are passionate about it.

[00:00:33] And our deepest desire, I think it's the reason you're here today, is that you desire and you have a heart that God would use you and fill you with his spirit to make a difference in the broken parts of our city and of our world.

[00:00:46] And this is a passage I think that really speaks into that. So if you were here last week, just to set it up, we got to eavesdrop on this conversation that Jesus had with a Samaritan woman.

[00:00:57] And remember how he told her, he said, if you drink of these waters, you will what? It's like three of you. Yeah, thirst again. But if you drink of the water that I give, you will what? Never thirst.

[00:01:11] And Jesus is telling her, look, if you're looking for satisfaction in things of this world, for her it was men. She had gone from relationship to relationship, sleeping with all these guys. She had five husbands. She was with a guy who wasn't her husband.

[00:01:26] And she thought that the meaning and longings of her heart could be satisfied in those things. And Jesus says, no, you continue to go down that path. It's only going to, whoa, Lord. Okay, cool. Are we all good back there? Let's give it up for our sound guy.

[00:01:46] Spirit is willing, but the tools are cheap. So if you're looking for satisfaction in things other than God, it's only going to leave you more lonely and discontent. But if you find your satisfaction in the Lord, he will meet the longings of your heart.

[00:02:01] So that was last week, but it's only half the story. We get to pick it up now in verse 27. Hopefully you got your Bibles open and let's begin. It says just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking to them.

[00:02:15] Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, what do you want? Or why are you talking with her?

[00:02:24] Then leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah? And they came out of the town and made their way toward him.

[00:02:36] I think they were kind of freaked out that she said that. Because keep in mind, she'd been sleeping around with a lot of guys in this village. And she comes back in the village and she's like, I just met someone who told me everything I ever did.

[00:02:48] And the guys are like, uh-oh, we better investigate what's going on here. And they came out of the town, they made their way towards him. And meanwhile his disciples urged him, Rabbi, eat something. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you know nothing about.

[00:03:02] And his disciples said to each other, could someone have brought him food? My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don't you have a saying, it's four months until harvest?

[00:03:14] I tell you, open your eyes, look at the fields, they are ripe for harvest. Even now, the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life. So that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.

[00:03:27] Thus the saying, one sows and another reaps is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.

[00:03:37] And many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. He told me everything I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them and he stayed for two days.

[00:03:47] And because of his words, many more became believers. They said to the woman, we no longer believe just because of what you said. In other words, we don't really trust you.

[00:03:55] But now we have heard for ourselves and we know that this man really is the savior of the world. So she goes back into the town and she's just erupting with passion and joy. And Jesus had met her.

[00:04:08] And whenever anyone meets Jesus, you can't help but go and tell other people. That that's the heart of evangelism. Evangelism is not trying to persuade someone logically. It's not about you being forced to do something because the Bible says it.

[00:04:24] No, evangelism is just Jesus has changed your life. And now you just want to tell people how he's done that for you. And so she goes back into the town. They're like, we got to investigate for ourself. They come back to the well.

[00:04:37] Jesus has a conversation with them. And then you have this little verse that is really fascinating historically. It says that many Samaritans believed in him. Now, this is really an understated verse because when you study church history,

[00:04:54] what you find is that Samaria really became ground zero for revival. This became an epicenter of God doing something new and beautiful in that part of the world.

[00:05:09] In fact, when you study history, some of the greatest thinkers and leaders came from this area as a byproduct of this conversation that Jesus had. One example would be if you're taking notes, Acts chapter 8.

[00:05:21] And what you find is that Samaria became ground zero for a church planting movement. Philip, he meets an Ethiopian eunuch. He baptizes this guy in Samaria. And according to church history, the Ethiopian eunuch goes back to Ethiopia, starts a church.

[00:05:38] And today, they now point to this guy in Acts 8 as the founder of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which I was reading about last week, has a membership of 50 million people worldwide. So it was a conversation.

[00:05:56] Philip goes, he sees a guy, he talks about Scripture, baptizes him, and now 50 million people later. Or another example. In fact, I have a picture of this. This is a guy named Justin Martyr. Epic beard, like true hipster, would have fit in well in Portland.

[00:06:12] Justin Martyr, he was born right by this spot, this well, where Jesus had this conversation, was the birthplace of Justin Martyr, that same village. He was an interesting thinker. He was an apologist. He was a philosopher. He interacted with Roman governors and officials and emperors even.

[00:06:34] He wrote books, and eventually in 165 AD, he gave his life. Which if you come from a Catholic background, you remember his martyrdom, because every April 14th in the Catholic tradition, they celebrate and remember Justin Martyr. So you have Justin Martyr. You have the Ethiopian eunuch.

[00:06:53] You have Acts 8 and 9, a seedbed of revival. But this is what I want you to notice. The amazing fruit that came from John chapter 4 was all a byproduct of a simple conversation. Jesus saying, I need to go into Samaria.

[00:07:12] And he meets this woman, and he begins to ask her questions. And just because Jesus did that, now here we are 2,000 years later, and the fruit of this story is global. And I really have it on my heart to share this with you guys.

[00:07:28] I think this is a word for some of us, but I think especially there's a handful of people, this is exactly what you need to hear. Some of us, when it comes to being used by God, we get discouraged because we don't see the fruit.

[00:07:42] We get discouraged because we think, man, am I really making a difference? I wrestle with this all the time. And I know that some of you are in this space where, does it really matter?

[00:07:52] Am I really making a difference in the life of my roommates or my kids or my coworkers or this city? Does my life count? Is it having an impact? And what I notice in this story is that really being used by God boils down to the small stuff.

[00:08:10] It's the small conversations. It's the seeds that are sown in people's heart through your example, through your prayers, through taking them out to coffee. It's the small stuff, the small acts of obedience. Day in, day out, that you give it enough time, it turns into something beautiful.

[00:08:33] Be faithful in the small things. You are making more of an impact than you know. Be faithful. Don't grow weary in well-doing, for in due season you shall reap if you don't lose heart.

[00:08:49] And I know that some of us, we've been in that space of, man, you've just been losing heart. You've been discouraged. No, God wants you to know today, you are making a difference. And that difference may not happen for another five or 10 years.

[00:09:01] You may not see the fruit. You may not see it for 40 years. It may be 200 years from now that actually stuff begins to happen because of the investment you're making now. But you are making a difference. Don't let the enemy tell you otherwise. This is so important.

[00:09:17] And I want you to notice verse four. It says, and I mentioned it last week, but I didn't unpack it for you. It says that Jesus had to go through Samaria. Now, I was curious, okay, this word had, that there's something more there. It's not obligation.

[00:09:33] It's not Jesus, ah, I gotta go through Samaria. No, it's actually the opposite. The word had in the Greek language, it means compelled or led or called. It's like you're driving on 23rd, right? And you see salt and straw.

[00:09:49] At least for me, you're compelled to pull over, right? You're led, you're swept up in this creamy vortex of goodness, right? It's this idea of this deep conviction that there's something in you that is being pushed by the spirit of God. Jesus had to go. Why?

[00:10:07] Because he spent time with the father and the father gave him that vision and purpose. And this is what I love about Jesus. We're gonna see this as we go through the book of John over the next 80 years together,

[00:10:18] is that Jesus just had this deep sense of purpose. He had a sense of calling. In John chapter six, he said, for I have come from heaven, not to do my will, but the will of him who sent me.

[00:10:30] And the word sent there in the Greek is pempu. In the Latin, it's the word missio, which is where we get our English word for what? Mission. So Jesus had a deep sense of mission, a burning sense of vision. He knew where he was supposed to go.

[00:10:48] His face was set like flint. In political science, if you're studying that in school, this will ring a bell. In political science, they use the terms reactionary versus revolutionary. So a reactionary is someone who, they're just content with the status quo.

[00:11:07] If things change, they'll kind of adapt to that change. Whereas a revolutionary creates change. A revolutionary has a vision and goes after that vision and makes a difference. Jesus was the true revolutionary. He had purpose and passion and mission. And what was that mission?

[00:11:30] To be used by the father. And listen, you need to know that even as Jesus' passion was, God, I want to do your will. I want to step into those places that you've called me to step into.

[00:11:40] As followers of Jesus, that should be our vision and mission as well. In John 20, this is worth writing down. Jesus said, as the father has sent me, missio, I am sending you. Christianity does not end at conversion.

[00:11:58] You come forward, you say a prayer, get your God fix on. Okay, I've got my fire insurance from hell. That's all I need to do. I said the prayer and then I can get on with my life. No, that's not Christianity.

[00:12:11] Christianity is stepping into the life that Jesus has for you. Well, I thought it was just inviting Jesus into my life. Yeah, that's step one. But step two, three, four, five, six is Jesus inviting you into his life. Christianity then is not just being saved from something.

[00:12:31] It's being saved for something where your life is fully surrendered to be used by God. Now, some of you may have been wondering why this is up here. And so I like to call this pipe theology.

[00:12:46] I've used this example before and I think with you guys, maybe like five years ago or so. But here I have a bucket and I have a pipe. Now, think about for a second the difference between a pipe and a bucket. A bucket is a container.

[00:13:02] A bucket is something you put things into, trash, water. If you have a leak in the roof, you get a bucket there. And that bucket, if you leave what it contains for too long, what happens?

[00:13:18] If you leave trash in there for too long, if you leave water in there for too long, it gets moldy and it gets stagnant and it gets stale and it gets gross.

[00:13:29] When I was a missionary overseas in Vanuatu, the way that we got our drinking water was through buckets. So we had actually a very big reservoir, a big bucket. And there was a time where it's collecting rain and it would fill up because it rains constantly there.

[00:13:47] And it was really fresh, good water. There was a time when everyone at this little mission base where I lived, there's about 30 of us, everyone was sick and we just had these stomach issues. And we couldn't figure it out.

[00:14:01] A few days goes by, everyone's throwing up, running to the outhouse. It was horrible. And then I thought, you know, I should look inside our great big bucket, our reservoir. And sure enough, I opened it up and there inside was a rat.

[00:14:15] An X rat that had swollen to like four times its size. It was horrible. Every time I tell this story, it gets like R-O-U-S's, right? I'm like, that's the issue. That's the cause, right? You have this great reservoir, but there's something dead in it.

[00:14:33] Think though about a pipe. I'm so thankful that we don't get our water that way here. We use pipes. And what's a pipe? A pipe is not just a container. It's a conduit, right? Things flow through it. Water comes in, water goes out.

[00:14:50] As a result, there's energy, there's momentum, there's freshness. Now I call this pipe theology because everyone in this room, you're either a pipe or a bucket in your relationship with Jesus. Some of you, you're more like the bucket. You're like, God, I'm here because I want to receive.

[00:15:06] I'm here because I want to learn. I'm here because I want to receive from you. I want to understand your word. And that's great. We all need to be buckets. But listen, if we don't do anything with what God has poured into us, you get stagnant.

[00:15:22] You get stale. Do you ever meet those grumpy Christians? Like there are some Christians who can be so cynical and judgmental. And now I know. I'm like, oh, you're a bucket, not a pipe, right? That's the issue. There's no outlet in your life.

[00:15:37] Just receiving, receiving, receiving, and that's good. But if you're not giving out, it's the dead, swollen rat. Others of you, though, you're more like a pipe and God's pouring into you. But your heart, your passion is I want to pour out into the world.

[00:15:54] I want to make a difference in the broken places of our city. I want to make a difference with my roommates or my kids that I'm raising. I want to make a difference at work. God, use me and fill me and flow through me.

[00:16:08] That is what God has called us to be. You are called to be a pipe, not a bucket. You're called to be someone who God is using and sending. You have a mission. You have a cause. You have a purpose.

[00:16:23] You see, without this, we just go through life on the sidelines. But when our perspective changes and we say, Father, I want you to use me, there's joy and life and energy and a sense of mission and vibrancy and purpose.

[00:16:39] One of my favorite poems is by the British archaeologist T.E. Lawrence. Check this out. He said, all men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind awake to the day to find it was all vanity.

[00:16:56] But the dreamers of day are dangerous men. For the many act out their dreams with open eyes to make it possible. That's what God has called us to be, not sitting on the sidelines, apathetic bucket theology, but rather to be people who are energized by the power

[00:17:16] of the Spirit making a difference. God utilizing your gifts, your strengths, but your weaknesses too. We'll talk about that in a minute, to make a difference. Jesus had to go through Samaria, and because of that revival, social change, millions of people 2,000 years later impacted.

[00:17:38] And again, I just feel led to say this. I think some of you have had a small perspective of how God wants to use you. And I think God just wants to set you free from that today. He wants to give you a bigger vision.

[00:17:54] He wants to use you in ways that if he were to tell you now, you wouldn't even believe it. I know the thoughts I think towards you, says the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

[00:18:06] There are doors he wants you to step through. There are mountains he wants you to climb. There are people that he wants you to reach. You're just getting started. Don't let the brokenness of your past dictate how God wants to use you in the future.

[00:18:22] Because the brokenness of our past can actually become a catalyst for redemption in our future. He started a good work in you, and he will be faithful to complete it. God wants to use you. Now, the question I have as I look at this story is, okay, how?

[00:18:40] What does that look like? And how can my life really make an impact for the kingdom of God? I'm glad you asked that question. So I'm going to share with you three thoughts, and then we'll be done. Number one, this is key.

[00:18:51] You want to be used by God? Be connected to the source. Jesus had to go through Samaria. He was led to go, prompted to go. Now, how did he know where to go? Because he's connected to his Father. He spent time on his knees.

[00:19:07] He spent time in prayer. He spent time alone. He spent time in the Word. And because of that, he had vision and direction. It's just like a pipe. A pipe without a source is an empty container, but it does nothing.

[00:19:21] Once it's connected to something, whether it's a well, another source of water, a river, it's then that it begins to flow. And if we want to be used by God, we've got to be connected to him. This is what David was talking about in Psalm 37.

[00:19:36] He said, delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Delight in him. Do you know that word delight? It just means love. It means spend time with. It means listen. It means understand.

[00:19:52] We sing that song sometimes around here, all my delight is in you, Lord. Can I ask you, is that true? Is that true of you? Are you delighting in him? You know, when I met my wife and we began to date, she would send me these letters sometimes,

[00:20:07] which if you're under 25, a letter is a piece of paper that someone would write down their thoughts. Does anyone miss letters? I actually kind of do. Nowadays, you're dating, it's like, OMG, totes, LOL. Like, okay, cool.

[00:20:24] So she sent me these letters, and I remember getting these letters, and I would sit down, and I'd read them and reread them and read them again. And then I'm looking between the lines and the subtleties and the nuance,

[00:20:38] and what does this word mean in the Greek, right? It's like this delight in my wife. The more I learned about my wife, the more I had vision for our life together. Vision is the byproduct of intimacy. Passion, mission is born from closeness.

[00:21:01] And when your delight is in the Lord, you're loving him, you're seeking him, then mission begins to flow. This is key. If you've been around Westside for any length of time, you know the vision of our church is love Jesus,

[00:21:12] learn the way of Jesus, live on the mission of Jesus. But notice that mission is the byproduct of the other stuff. You put mission first, it becomes legalism. But if you put intimacy with God first, loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength,

[00:21:31] learning his ways, mission then becomes natural, just like a tree. It's planted in the rivers of water. It's planted in the healthy soils. And what happens is the deeper the roots go, the more the fruit begins to grow. It's natural.

[00:21:49] If you want your life to be fruitful, be rooted and grounded in him. Number two, this key or this point is I think key to everything. And I actually changed it. Last gathering I had a completely different point too.

[00:22:03] And I got off the stage, I was like, man, that was a lame message. So I changed it. So here's point two. Be a wounded healer. Be a wounded healer.

[00:22:13] You know the times that Jesus was used most by the Father was when he was weak and weary and tired. It's true in this story, right? We saw last week it was hot. Jesus is hungry. He's thirsty. He's been traveling for days just to get there.

[00:22:32] And in his weakness comes a conversation. And through that conversation, one of the greatest revivals in history. Or think of John 6. We'll be there soon. In John 6, Jesus is up all night in prayer. He's tired. He's fatigued. But then he walks on water.

[00:22:53] So out of his weakness comes this beautiful story. Think of the cross. Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, sweating drops of blood. If it's possible, Father, let this cup pass from me.

[00:23:08] And yet in obedience to the Father's will, because everything that Jesus did revolved around doing the will of the Father. He said, not my will be done, but your will be done. And Jesus took up his cross and he died for us.

[00:23:20] Jesus' greatest act of sacrifice, his weakness, his body that was beaten, his blood that was shed, his back that was lacerated and torn, his hands and feet that were pinned to this wooden Roman cross. His weakness became salvation for the world. His brokenness became redemption for humanity.

[00:23:40] It was through his weakness and his wounds that we now are rescued. You want to be used by God? Don't be afraid to let your weakness and your wounds be on display.

[00:23:55] In fact, I would argue that your deepest wounds and your greatest areas of failure or regret or pain can actually become the seedbed of redemption to make a difference in someone's life. It's not about our strengths.

[00:24:12] It's not about how great we are or anointed we are, all our talents. And that stuff's important too, having gifts, obviously. But I think actually the kinds of people that God uses are those who have been broken the most.

[00:24:25] Moses, I want you to go and share with Pharaoh and tell him to set my people free. And what does Moses say? I can't talk. Like, choose anyone else but me. I'm a terrible public speaker. And God says exactly because that's your area of weakness.

[00:24:41] That's what I want to use. Jeremiah, I want you to go and proclaim truth to the nation. And what did Jeremiah say? He's like, I am too young. He's like 14, 15 years old. And God says exactly. Your weakness is actually going to be your greatest strength.

[00:24:59] Isaiah, God told him, I want you to go and I want you to tell this people to come back to me. And he had this vision of God. And God said, I want to use you. And he said, I'm a man of unclean lips.

[00:25:14] I've got unholiness in my life. And God says, you know what? Your area of weakness, your unclean lips, I'm touching you with fire from the altar. And now you're going to go and make a huge difference in the world. Your greatest weakness becomes your greatest strength.

[00:25:29] I think of Jonah. Go and share it to Nineveh. I'm not ready to do that. They're not going to listen to what I have to say. I'd rather go to Maui. You know the story. And he gets on a boat and he sails away.

[00:25:40] And then God brings him back via whale. And Jonah was again on the leading edge of another revival. Your weakness becomes your greatest strength, your wounds, your scars, your flaws, your brokenness, the things that happened to you, the things that you did that you now regret.

[00:26:02] Grace means that your brokenness is not the end of the story. And it can actually become a pivotal part in the story for someone else. Be a wounded healer. Henry Nowen, he actually wrote a book by that name. It's a beautiful book.

[00:26:18] And in that book, he said, nobody escapes being wounded. We are all wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. The main question is not how can we hide our wounds so we don't have to be embarrassed,

[00:26:32] but how can we put our woundedness in the service of others? When our wounds cease to be a source of shame and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers. This afternoon, I'm going to be hopping my car, driving to southern Oregon,

[00:26:53] and I'm going to memorial service for a friend of mine. His name's Peter John. And when I lived in Vanuatu for those three years, we had a hut together. We were missionaries together. You get to know someone really well when you live in the same hut.

[00:27:09] And, man, it was one of the greatest privileges, honors of my life, just getting to serve with him. He's an amazing guy, amazing teacher of the word. But I was there when he first got really sick. I remember praying for him and taking him to the hospital.

[00:27:23] And eventually, it got so bad, we put him on a plane. He goes back home. And as the years have gone by, he's just kind of up and down, but progressively just getting sicker and sicker. And it finally turned into cancer.

[00:27:37] And so over the last few weeks, he's been battling that. And a couple of days ago, he went home to be with the Lord. So I'm going to be going down there this afternoon and just really celebrating his life and remembering the impact that he made.

[00:27:54] But there's one thing I'll never forget with his life, is that his brokenness, not his strength. He had a lot of strengths. But it was his brokenness that made the biggest difference. It was his brokenness and his weakness as he's walking through life,

[00:28:16] experiencing the struggles that he did. That is what made the most difference. Thousands of people were impacted through his life, through his ministry, not because of his strengths, but because of his weakness.

[00:28:32] You know, Paul, he said, God chooses the weak things of the world to confound the wise. He uses the broken people. He uses the wounded people. Do you realize you can be a wounded healer? Remember Thomas? He didn't believe. And what did Jesus say? Touch my what?

[00:28:51] Does anyone know? Yeah, my wounds, my hands, my feet. And Thomas touched his wounds. And in the process of touching his wounds, he found deeper faith. And I think for some of us, that's the word you need to hear,

[00:29:06] is that your wounds don't, you don't need to feel shame from the past. You've been set free from the past. The wounds, the scars that you carry because of grace and because of redemption can actually be your greatest strength and can make all the difference in the world.

[00:29:22] I want to be used by God. You want to be used by God. It begins with delighting in him. Secondly, God using our wounds as a source of redemption to a broken world. But finally, number three, and then we're going to open up the tables.

[00:29:38] And this one, oh my gosh, this one should be like a whole other teaching. But don't worry, I'll keep it to five minutes, maybe. Recognize the opportunity that is right in front of you. Now I want to draw your attention to verse 35.

[00:29:51] Jesus said, don't you have a saying? It's still four months until the harvest. I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields. Check this out. They are ripe with harvest. So Jesus' disciples came back from the village. They had food in their hands.

[00:30:08] And they're ready to leave this village because they didn't like it. Again, we talked about last week the racial tensions between Jewish people and Samaritans. But Jesus says, you know what? You guys are following me because you want to be used by me.

[00:30:20] You want your life to count. But there is an opportunity before you right now. It's this village. It's these people. The harvest that you're looking for is not some later date. The harvest is now. This is huge.

[00:30:38] And over the last few days, I've been really just processing this as it pertains to my own life. And I know some of you are this way too. I can be so goal-oriented. I can be so much thinking about what the future looks like four months from now,

[00:30:51] a year from now, four years from now. And I love to have goals. But what can happen, for me at least, is that I can get so fixated on the future that I forget the opportunity that is before me right now. Do you ever struggle with that?

[00:31:08] If only I get that degree, God will use me. If only I can earn that much money, then God will use me. Then I'll follow Jesus once I've got all my ducks in a row. But I think what Jesus is saying here is so vital.

[00:31:20] It's not four months until the harvest. The harvest is right now. Don't miss the opportunity that is before you. Kierkegaard, he used an illustration to describe this. He said there were two painters, and they each wanted to be famous. One of these painters, he traveled the world.

[00:31:43] Because he was a perfectionist, he's looking for the perfect person to paint. But because he kept traveling, every town he went to, every city he went to, he couldn't find the perfect person. The second painter, though, decided to stay home.

[00:31:59] And the second painter had no problem finding people to paint because he saw the beauty of God in everyone. He became the painter who was famous. Why? Because instead of looking for the perfect situation and the perfect scenario,

[00:32:18] he chose to capitalize on the opportunity that was right in front of him. Being used by God is not some far-off, distant dream. Being used by God is now. The opportunities are now. The ministry is now. The harvest is now.

[00:32:37] Right now, God has put people and opportunities in your life. He has gifted you and prepared you, and he's given you dreams and visions and passion. And right now, not four months from now, right now, God says, follow me. Be a pipe, not a bucket.

[00:32:53] Be connected to me. Take up your cross and follow me. See the opportunities that are before you. The harvest is plentiful. But the labors are few. So I'm going to close with this thought, and as I do, invite the band to come on up.

[00:33:10] What are the opportunities, the doors that God has placed before you right now? What are the things in your life that maybe you've been so busy on other stuff or too fixated on the future that God is saying, no,

[00:33:29] your greatest ministry, your greatest opportunity is right in front of you. The harvest is now. You know, the Lord's been speaking to me about this in terms of parenting. You guys know, like, if you're a parent, it can be crazy and chaotic,

[00:33:44] especially if you have a lot of kids. A friend of mine a few years ago, he had his sixth child, and I asked him, I'm like, so what's it like having six kids? And he said, Dom, imagine that you're drowning, and then someone throws you a baby.

[00:34:01] Parenting, man, it's tough. And you talk to parents. Maybe you feel this way too. It's like, if only I can get through this season, if only I can get through this stage in their life, right? Then things are going to get better. Things are going to get easier.

[00:34:17] And then you discover, no, it doesn't. Like each age has its own challenges and opportunities as well. And where the Lord's been speaking to my heart is, you know what? There's an opportunity today. I have a chance with my daughter today to sow into her life,

[00:34:35] to speak truth into her life. The greatest ministry you have if you're a parent is your kids. And what would it look like for you to say, you know what, instead of four months from now, four years from now,

[00:34:46] to say, I'm going to capitalize on today, this moment, to be used by the father to make a difference in their life. I don't see any fruit, you might say. It's really hard. It's really challenging. You may not now, but someday you will.

[00:35:00] You train a child in the way that he or she should go. And in the end, they're not going to wonder from the truth. Or think of this in terms of our career. Maybe you have a plan, two-year plan, five-year plan,

[00:35:11] and promotions or places you want to go with your job. And all that's good and all that's great. But don't look past the people that you're working with right now. They are your ministry. They are your opportunity. The harvest is plentiful.

[00:35:27] Maybe you're a student and you're like, man, I've got this school I want to go to someday. And all these dreams for the future. And you're trying to make good grades. And the busyness and the hecticness of being a student.

[00:35:38] I think the Lord would say, don't miss the ministry that is right in front of you. Tomorrow you sit in class all around you. God has put people in your life for that time, for this season, for this reason, so that you can make a difference.

[00:35:56] A conversation, a coffee, a prayer, sharing something about your story. The harvest is now. What is the harvest that God has placed in front of you? And he's saying, I want to use you there. Don't miss it. This is, I think, God's heart for us today.

[00:36:18] Don't miss it. Don't miss it. There are women at the well. There's a city to love. There are kids to raise. There are coworkers to love. There are people that God has placed in your life right now. Your husband, your wife, your roommates. The harvest is now.