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Labor Shortage


“Help Wanted”

“Apply Today”

“We’re Hiring!”

We see these signs everywhere. If you are looking for a job, this is a great market. Unfortunately, the market does not feel great for those who are trying to fill these vacancies, and for the patrons who are feeling the effects of the labor shortage. The service industry in particular has been hit hard; your favorite fast food restaurant may or may not be open, depending on whether or not enough people show up to work that day. When they are open, service is slow at many places.

It is taking an unusual amount of time to get things because the labor shortage has impacted the shipping industry. In May our church ordered a new appliance, and we were told it would arrive in June—of next year, thirteen months away!

It is taking an unusual amount of time to get places because the labor shortage has impacted the airline industry. Flights are being cancelled at the last minute because pilots are in short supply. This labor shortage is frustrating, and something needs to change soon. 

If we are bothered by this labor shortage, how do you think God feels about a more important one? Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 9:37, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” The harvest to which Jesus referred is a spiritual harvest, a crop of souls that are in desperate need of attention. 

All farmers desire a plentiful harvest, but not having enough hands on deck to reap the produce is bad business. Today’s restaurateurs want customers, but they also need enough of a crew to accommodate them. We want to see the lost get saved, but we need the manpower to make it happen. 

Yes, there are missionaries around the world evangelizing unreached people groups; there are pastors proclaiming God’s Word from their pulpit each week; there are evangelists traveling from city to city declaring the gospel, but it takes more than that. We need students talking to their classmates. We need employees talking to their coworkers. We need shoppers talking to their cashiers. The harvest truly is plentiful; there are people all around us who are a heartbeat from hell. Will we be willing workers?

We can help in this harvest by rolling up our sleeves and getting our hands dirty, but there is also a spiritual element as well. In the parallel passage we read in Luke 10:2 “Then He said to them, ‘The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’” 

God is the Lord of the harvest. When we pray for Him to send workers, it starts a chain reaction in heaven’s throne room. We must pray for the conversion of the lost, but at the same time pray for God to send people their way. Pray for God to send people to the uttermost parts of the earth. You might just find that the next worker God will send into the harvest is you.   

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