Three years ago, while on a family vacation in Colorado, we visited Mesa Verde National Park. My two young sons and myself set out on what we were told was a short hike to see some petroglyphs. My two boys were so excited. What we did not know is that this so-called “short” hike was a 2.4 mile hike. With one of my sons, only 2 years old at the time, this was not a short hike. As we ran out of water I did what any dad would do and said it was time to turn around and go back. We returned tired, defeated and in need of some water. This summer we returned to Colorado determined more than ever to complete this hike. Fully prepared with more than enough water and now with my youngest at age five we set off to conquer what we now know as a 2.4 mile round trip hike. My oldest son, Ethan, was very determined to complete the hike this time. He considered it a defeat or a failure that we did not reach our destination the first time. As we retraced our steps on the hike we finally reached the petroglyphs. Here is what we discovered:
- That on our first hike, three years earlier, we were only 30 feet from the petroglyphs before we gave up and turned around.
- Second, that the hike actually made a circle so when we turned around and went back we actually hiked a lot further than the 2.4 miles the first time and yet did not reach our destination.
As a leader we can often set off toward our goal not fully prepared. Luke 10:2 says, “These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” I wonder how many times we head off with our goal of reaching the harvest.We dream of what it will look like. We talk about it. We put in a lot of work, but yet we are unprepared because we failed to do one simple thing that we all know to do. We forgot to pray. Just like I headed off without enough water on our hike we too often head out without praying. This verse makes it very clear that the harvest is great, but it tells us to pray for more workers not to just head out to the harvest. Will you join me in praying for more workers? The challenge is simple. Set your alarm on your phone to go off each day and when it does take time at that very moment to spend time in prayer for more workers!
Galatians 6:9 says, “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” NLT
Don’t give up, keep pushing forward, and let’s pray together as we reach the harvest!
