My mom has a massive bumper crop of blackberries this year. For the past week, you could easily pick a few hundred ripe berries each day. My family loves blackberries and blackberries love East Texas. They grow really well here and my mom has always seemed to have her fair share of luck in getting her blackberry plants to thrive and multiply. This past week, I went over to my parents house two different times to claim my stake of the blackberries. Of course, these blackberries are not handed out. You have to go pick them yourself. If you pick them, then you can keep them. If you don’t pick them, then it’s no guarantee you will be able to partake in the goodness of the sweet berries. That’s not problem for me. I love blackberries and enjoy the picking all the same.
If you know anything about Blackberries, then you know that the berries don’t just fall off the vine for you. It takes some work and getting your body in some unique positions to get the berries. My mom has two, twelve foot long rows of berries that run parallel to each other with not much room in between. If you want to come away with a huge haul of berries, you better know that you are getting dirty!
As I was picking the berries, I began to think about the famous missions passage in Matthew 9:37-38. The passage reads, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” I came away with a few key observations as I pondered this scripture in my mind and picked berries with my hand.
1. Do missions together – I was not alone in my berry picking. My wife and two boys were right there with me. I believe this is key on two main levels. A: When we do ministry as a team, whether it be with your immediate family, church family or ministry family, the level of fulfillment and inspiration that seemingly happens simultaneously gives you such a taste of the pleasure of God. B: Many hands truly do make light work! The aforementioned scripture says “few” laborers, which means that we need more! That is why I have made it a point in my daily prayers to pray for the calling, equipping and sending of more of the best laborers into the harvest.
2. You must be all in – Some people probably like to just pick the “easy to get” berries that are within arms reach. There is nothing necessarily wrong with that as long as you have other people willing to get into the trenches. Truth be told, we must be willing to go wherever God tells us to harvest the fruit! Some berries are easy to pick and can be harvested with little effort. However, the vast majority of berries are in hard to reach place that require full commitment. To get the FULL harvest, you must be willing to go all in and that could take you to places that some people are just not willing to go. Remember, those tough to get to, tough to reach places can be a lot easier if you are working with a team.
3. Your going to get dirty – I was not three minutes into picking berries and I found myself on my hands and knees in the middle of the blackberry bushes! I was sweating and covered in dirt five minutes into it. While I was down on my knees, I had a strong revelation that was really two fold. A: Some of the very best fruit is in the hidden places that can not be discovered unless you are down on their level. B: All of our harvesting in life really starts at that place of being down on our knees. It’s a place of humility, a place of submission and a place of gain. It’s that place of prayer that tunes in our heart and vision to be the very best laborers and harvesters we can be.
4. The reward is sweet – We all know what it’s like to spread that blackberry jam across our toast or even better, that bubbling hot blackberry cobbler pulled right out of the oven. How bout we go a la mode with some ice cream!!?? When that taste is in our mouth it’s a reminder that the “labor” was all worth it. And not only was it worth it, but we would do it all over again. Tasting the fruits of our labor is not what keeps us going back, however. The Lord and his calling and commandment in our lives is what keeps us going back. However, God was gracious to us and even though we don’t deserve it, often times we are able to enjoy the fruits of our labor in the here and now. It’s kind of like the cherry on top… Or maybe the Blackberry on top in this case.
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