Ask the LORD of the Harvest

Ask the Lord of the Harvest…(Written last year) It’s harvest time in New England. I went to pick up my veggie share at the local farm and they have tomato plants where you can pick tomatoes when you go to the farm. The frost has mostly killed the plants but they are still laden, laden, laden with tomatoes. I went to glean as many as I could but did not make a dent in them. I could hear them calling out “pick me” (I’m joking but I almost could) but there were too many of them and only me, so far, to pick them.

Harvest time, at the end, yields a lot of abundance. At other local farms, the harvest of pumpkins and winter squash are way more abundant than can be used. Farmers pile extra produce, some with small blemishes, or in unsightly shapes into bargain bins, almost begging you to take it. Waste is sad to me. The food is grown to be enjoyed, eaten– a source of nourishment, not left to rot on the vine.

But now approaches a time for spiritual harvest also. God’s love and care for us is so great that He wants to gather us up so that none are lost. A harvest of souls is waiting like an overstocked pumpkin patch in the fields of the Lord, waiting right here in New England. But who will help them to be brought home to the Lord? Who will tell them that we are grown for a purpose, grown to bring joy and sustenance to each other and happiness to God. Some produce is more beautiful than others but who will take time to gather the bruised, the late fruit, the misshapen, the leftovers? All has worth and purpose.

Many years ago, in my senior yearbook, I wrote the verse, “Many are called, but few are chosen” underneath my senior picture. I picked that verse because I felt a sense of destiny to find my deepest purpose in God and fulfill it. So today, as I heard the unharvested tomatoes crying out to be harvested, it was not hard for me to hear the cries of souls crying out also. People are not meant to wither on the vine and die. We are meant for rich, full, purposeful lives. A young man in our town passed away unexpectedly. We do not know when our moment to pass over will come. Will we have found peace with God?

In 1734, Jonathan Edwards stewarded one of the most famous revivals in American history– a revival that changed the American landscape and history. We stand on the edge of another such time: a troubled time in our history where people are searching for meaning and hope that can only come ultimately when they are in right relationship with God and each other.

But where are the workers to midwife this? Jesus teaches on this when he says,“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:38) .

For it is surely His Harvest, and His hope that people would come out of the darkness of hopelessness into the marvelous light of the Kingdom of God. He is not willing that one should perish, that one should be sick or hurt or depressed or in need. But He has given some of that responsibility to us to partner with Him. Will we? Or are we pre-occupied with our own interests? busy with our own lives?

There is surely a clarion call being sounded, louder than the call of the wild geese migrating southward. It is time to gather the harvest of souls that is out there, waiting, clinging to the vine in hopes that their lives have some meaning, some purpose and will not be wasted. It is not just a soul here or there, but an abundant, overflowing harvest that will break our capacity to receive them unless we prepare.

Where there was no interest for God or His ways, suddenly will spring forth the Presence of God calling people home to Himself. And they will respond. So we who have known Jesus, and walked with Him, all these years through thick and thin, must get ready to gather with Him. Let nothing and no-one go to waste.

Harvesters, get ready. Get ready to help people know the Good God they never knew. The One who often has been sadly maligned and misrepresented— the Living God who is Life, and Love and Truth.

Discipleship making online classes

Want to learn more about making disciples? We encourage you to take a look here>> These classes will teach you from a biblical rather than a religious perspective and give you tools that bring people to Jesus. Gather a few friends and do them together!

Rose-Marie Slosek

Rose-Marie Slosek is on the Board of Directors of Women of the Word. She also serves on the Leadership Team for FAI Emmaus Online School and Frontier Alliance International Homefront. She can be reached at rmslosek@comcast.net

Set Me Up Lord!

I believe we all want to be used by God. He’s placed the desire to make a difference in our hearts, entrusted us with spiritual gifts and the power of the Holy Spirit. His word tells us that we are new creations in Christ, and are called to the ministry of reconciliation. We ARE His Ambassadors! (2 Corinthians 5:17-20). 


My friend, Sandra had just finished a conference and was inspired by one of the speakers. He challenged her to pray, “Set Me Up Lord” every morning and watch for Gods divine appointments. Opportunities to encourage, pray for others and share the gospel, led by the Holy Spirit. As Sandra shared a powerful encounter she had with the woman sitting next to her on the plane, I felt stirred to do the same. Set me up Lord! And He did! When I shared my adventures on Facebook and saw the response, I felt the Holy Spirit was at work. 


We began a Facebook group and are inviting you into the adventure of the Set Me Up Lord challenge! Join our Facebook group, Set Me Up Lord. Beginning August 1, we will ask the Lord each day to set us up! Lead us to the ones He has ready! Then watch what the Lord does during the course of your day. Sense the Holy Spirit at work. Share your testimonies with the group to encourage others. Join us for the great adventure! Step into your calling as an Ambassador for Christ!


“You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.” John 15:16. NRSV

George and Denise Ridley

Denise Ridley founded  Waters Edge Ministries in 2003 and is the weekly host of The Waters Edge radio broadcast on The Light Radio Network in Vermont and WACE in the greater Springfield, MA area. Denise teaches God’s Word with a passionate yet practical, transparent style. She also serves as a prison chaplain and a speaker for Women of the Word.

Using examples from her own life, you will laugh with her as she “tells it like it is” and be empowered to complete God’s purposes in your own life!