If you’re in the sandals of Ananias, what will you do? Run away? Ignore what you just heard? Rebuke God’s voice?
Looking at Ananias’ account in Acts chapter 9, he sure was in a tough situation.
For one, the Lord Jesus, in a vision, appeared to Ananias, commanding him to go to Saul, who was staying in a house in Straight Street.
If I were to recreate the scene in the 21st Century setting, it probably would have gone something like this…
Jesus: Ananias! Get up, leave your place of hiding because I want you to go to the house of Judas in Straight Street and meet a man named Saul.
Ananias: Saul? You mean, Saul the murderer? But Lord, why Saul, of all people?
Jesus: Yes, Saul is praying now and has actually received a vision from me, that you will come to his place to lay your hands at his eyes (because Saul was blind for three days already) and pray for the recovery of his eyesight.
Ananias: Lord, I’ve received email messages, Facebook updates from hundreds of our brothers and have even seen on CNN reports that Saul is fresh from leading the biggest persecutions of your followers in Jerusalem! And he has come over to Damascus to have Christians like me, who love and follow you, to be dragged out of the city and be arrested.
I could just imagine his hands still stained with blood after stoning Stephen, our dear brother to death.
Jesus: Ananias, I know your concerns, I understand what you feel right now, but I want you to go! I have chosen Saul to be my instrument in bringing the Gospel to people of diverse background. He will speak before influential people as well.
Guess what Ananias’ next move was? He obeyed the Lord Jesus.
It was hard. It was certainly tough. For he was about to face the most fearsome persecutor of Christians of the First Century!
But Ananias decided to leave his hiding place, unlock the heavily, wooden door of his house, and set out for a house in Straight Street.
A knock at the door, and he heard a faint voice say, “Who is it?”
“Are you Saul?” Ananias’ asked in a nervous tone.
“Yes, I am Saul. Who are you?
“The Lord Jesus appeared to me in a vision and has sent me to come and put my hands on your eyes so you could see again…” explained Ananias.
Ananias heard footsteps after that. And in a matter of seconds, Saul, groping and trying to sense where the door’s handle was, slowly opened the door.
Ananias looked at Saul, blind, looking pale (since he hadn’t eaten for three days) and looking ready to receive ministry.
Ananias went before Saul, prayed for him and in that same instant, his eyes were restored while he got up and was baptized.
Now, I wonder, what if Ananias didn’t obey the voice of the Lord? What could have happened to Saul? He could have probably died an aimless and anger-filled life.
Then, there wouldn’t have been an apostle to the Gentiles, one who shook the Roman world by his zeal and passion to obey Jesus, to the point of ignoring the life threats, the stoning and the beatings and the shipwrecks just to be able to bring the Gospel to the far corners of the known world.
But the great thing is—Ananias obeyed. And that one step of obedience completely altered world history. Want some proof? Flip on the pages of the New Testament and read the Epistles, and you’ll see the many churches Saul, now Paul helped establish.
Now, we have the Gospel. It’s being preached all over the world. And it is continually bearing fruit.
Question: Who’s your Saul today? Who’s that person God wants you to approach today and share the Gospel with? Will you do an about face before the Lord and say, “Jesus, forget it. My mom/ dad/ sister/brother is a tough nut to crack. They won’t listen to me?”
Or will you embrace Christ’s marching order and say, “Lord, I’m willing to obey and see your will being done in the life of my_____________(YOU ADD THAT NAME ON THE BLANK LINE).
Let’s go and do what Ananias did.
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