The true follower of Christ will not ask, "If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?" Rather he will say, "This is truth. God help me to walk in it, let come what may!"
~ A. W. Tozer
The first one, was married to Sapphira. The two of them conspired to deceive the Christian and immediately fell down and died after he uttered the falsehood (Acts 4 and 5).
The second Ananias, is the one I will be talking about today. Ananias, the disciple (Acts 9).
And the third was Ananias, the high priest who became enraged at Paul's declarations (Acts 23).
Ananias, the disciple, caught my attention this morning in my quiet time. Ananias, the disciple, appears in Act chapter 9, verses 10-19. As I read this short passage, a passage I have read many many times, I was struck by how briefly we met Ananias, and yet how his obedience so profoundly impacted Saul and now, thousands of years later, even our lives.
You see, Saul had just had his conversion. He had just met with God on that road to Damascus. In that meeting with God, God (and I envision God empathetically asking Saul, with deep conviction in His tone), "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
Saul, a little freaked out (as I picture it), says, "Who are you, Lord?"
"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." (Acts 9:4-6)
The only people who knew of what had happened were the men Saul was traveling with. That's it. So, fast-forward just a few verses to verse 10 when the Lord spoke to a man named Ananias in a vision:
10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
Ananias' first reaction is a reaction I think most of us would have, "Lord, Lord.... don't you know he's persecuting, overseeing the stoning and death of innocent, God-fearing servants? Don't you know he's coming here, to Damascus, to kill us and have us arrested? Are you sure this is what you want me to do? Are you sure this is where I should be going?
Fear. Doubt. Questioning God's orders. These are things we are just as prone to doing as Ananias was. We are no different in that regard. However, read on...
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Ananias heard from His Lord, and trusted and obeyed what God was telling him. He decided that whatever may come, he would trust and obey his Lord.
In ten short verses, the only 10 verses in the entire Bible where we see Ananias the disciple, we get a beautiful picture of Ananias' faith. We see him exhibit such faith and trust in God. He obeyed, in spite of any fears he may have had in regard to his own life and his well-being.
In his obedience to God, he was responsible for Saul getting his sight back, as well as, Saul getting baptized.
Outside of Saul's conversion, those were, arguably, two of the greatest moments in his life. Now, I have no doubt that God could've and would've used other means to give Saul his sight back and get him baptized, but He used Ananias and Ananias obeyed.
Would we obey? No matter what the cost?
I often think of this when I think of all of my friends and family who may not know Jesus. Will I obey, even if it means alienation or being ostracized from them? What if it meant going to share the gospel to some of the tribes in the Amazon where death is a real possibility? What if it looks like this: giving up your children's sporting events so you can serve the homeless on a Saturday morning? Or giving up your evenings to lead a small group Bible study to runaways or to youth at the local youth prison?
Will we obey? Do we have Ananias-like faith in God and obedience to Him to do what He is asking us to do? No matter what the cost? No matter what others think of us?
We are experiencing our own Ananias-faith question right now. We are praying through it and submitting to God to what seems to be a mountain in front of us.
What is God asking of you? Will you obey Him?
He has right to interrupt your life. He is Lord. When you accepted Him as Lord, you gave Him, the right to help Himself to your life anytime He wants.~ Henry Blackaby
It is a great deal easier to do that which God gives us to do, no matter how hard it is, than to face the responsibilities of not doing it.
~ B J Miller
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