[Biblemat] S) ANANIAS AND ME

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  Here is a study from my rec-
ent  files.  Use to the glory of God.

ANANIAS AND ME

       Often, when we read the Bible, we think of the people in God's Book as 
being special.  Somehow, they were different
than you or me.  We think they must have had stronger faith,
deeper convictions, better understanding than we do.  The re-
sult is that they come to look like spiritual superstars, not ordina-
ry people.

       But, when we take a closer look at those people, we come to
see tht they were like us in just about every way.  One of those 
people was a man named Ananias.  God wanted a special job
done, and the Lord called on a man, just like me or you, to do that job.  
Saul of Tarsus has seen the risen Savior.  The future
apostle has been helped into Damascus.  Now he is waiting for
what God will do next.  God sends Ananias.  Take time just here
to read (Acts 9:10-19).

       At first glance Ananias looks like another hero of faith.  But,
as we look more closely we will discover how much this man
was just like me, or you.

Ananias Was Willing: -- When God spoke to this man, his first response was, 
"Here I am."  That is, I am ready and willing to do
what You want.  I believe the same is true of most people.  Most
people, even those without church affiliation or much spiritual
background are still interested in a God they want to be real.
Those of us with faith also want to know God and are, at most
levels, interested in doing what God wants.

       As I interact with Christians, I see this all the time. Some want
God's blessings, others want the Lord to be pleased with them.
Most people, in most situations want to do the right thing.  If you
are reading this article, you are probably one of those people.
You want the Lord to be happy with you, you want to do what the Lord asks of 
you.  And, if the Lord gave you a task as He did
Ananias, you, like most of us, would say , "Here I am."  We are
like Ananias, in that we want to do what God commands.

       I don't mean to sound like a polyanna when I say this.  I think
God sees the good in every person.  Otherwise, why would He
send His Son to die if people were a hopeless cause.  God knows what good 
people can do, if they are simply challenged 
to do it.  We need to be more like God in this regard.  People want to hear 
from the Lord and they want to do what He asks.
Many of them, though, like Ananias, are not so sure once the command is 
given.  As we shall see, his willingness to obey was
also tempered with some pride and some fear.

Ananias Was Arguing With The Lord: -- I love Ananias' response
to the Lord.  Basically, he says "Lord you don't know Saul like I
do!  He came here to do harm and arrest people like me.  Now you want me to 
walk into his place and offer myself up?  You don't know what you are asking!"  
Amazing, that a man so will-
ing to respond is also so hesitant to do what the Lord wants.

       Again, I see this in myself.  I love the Lord and trust Him.  But,
then He allows me to experience some things I don't like, and 
just like Ananias, I begin to argue with Him.  I try to tell God things He 
"doesn't know" about my life and why He should
change things for me.

       I also see this when I read something in the Bible I never saw
before.  Now, I am telling God that He really doesn't mean what
He wrote, it must mean something else.  Some people do this 
with baptism.  They want to be saved by a prayer of faith, then
they rd that everyone in the New Testament was baptized when
they believed.  They read that baptism takes away sin (Acts 2:38
; 22:16).  But they will say "it really doesn't mean that."  Like Ananias, 
they try to tell God what He really needs to know.

       This happens in many other ways as well.  God tells me to love my 
neighbor, and I do, until my neighbor acts ugly toward
me.  Then God tells me to forgive those who sin against me, and
I do, until the sin is really bad.  On the list can go.  With God's
clear commands being met with reasons they cannot be obey-
ed.  Like Ananias, I sometimes tell God what He needs to know.

Ananias Was Obedient: -- One of the great things in this story is
God's reaction to Ananias' argument.  The Lord just says, "Go!"
and leaves it at that.  God doesn't write Ananias off as a lost 
cause.  He just puts His foot down and tells this willing man that
he must also be an obedient man.

       This is an important point.  Sometimes I meet people who 
think the mistakes they have made have ruined their chance to
serve God.  That isn't true.  No matter how much or how long you have argued 
with the Lord, He still wants you to "go" and do what He asks.  You can be 
just as good a servant as Ananias
if you will believe in yourself as much as God does.

       The great part of this story is that Ananias, after the discuss-
ion, finally went to Saul.  Imagine what that was like.  Knocking on the door 
of the man who has come so far to do damage to
the church.  Ananias knew, as a leader in the Christian commun-
ity in Damascus, he was probably high on Saul's list of people
to arrest.  So, uncertain or maybe even afraid, Ananias knocked
on the door.  That took great courage and trust in the Lord.

       This is what happens when you stop arguing and start obey-
ing.  No one in your family may have ever been baptized for the
remission of sins.  It may take great courage to break with that
tradition and do what the Lord commands.  You may lose friends, or even 
family members will be angry.  But, like Ananias,
uncertain and afraid, you need to trust the Lord and do what He
says.

       You may not have a neighbor who is easy to love.  But, God
still wants His children to stand out, not because they are always right, but 
because they always love.  And, you may have
a neighbor tht you need to forgive.  Stop arguing and do the
hard thing, the right thing and forgive that neighbor anyway.

Ananias Was Achieving: -- I can only imagine the look on Anan-
ias' face when Saul was baptized.  The arch enemy of Christ.
The man who had led the attack agains the church in Jerusalem.
The man who had single-handedly chased most of the Christ-
ians out of that city.  Now, having come to Damascus to do more
damage, he surrenders and is baptized.  Ananias must have 
marveled, just as we would, that God could reach a man like
that with His grace.

       Ananias must have realized that someone bigger than he had done all 
this.  Although he had finally obeyed God and done
what God wanted, he knew it wasn't him, it was the Lord and His
awesome ability to save that brought Saul into the kingdom.  He
experienced success because he trusted God and obeyed.  But
he knew the success was from God.

       It is important to look at the process that brought this succ-
ess.  It starts with a willing man, someone who wants to know
God and do what is right.  It continues through the weak faith of
one who argues with God, trying to teach the Lord what "He needs to know."  
It finds its success, though, when this person
of faith, even weak faith, acts on his faith and obeys.  Ananias
probably didn't relish the idea of walking into Saul's place and
trying to convert this enemy of Christ.  But his obedience made
all the difference in Saul's life, and in the lives of countless thous-
ands and millions who have come to Christ because of the 
apostle's teaching.

So: Trust The Lord: --Ananias was able to achieve so much be-
cause he trusted in God, even as he went to Saul to baptize him.
He could've dismissed this task as impossible, beyond his abili-ties, too 
risky and so on.  But, he trusted the Lord and finally
went and the history of the church was forever changed.  We,
too, need to trust the Lord, even when (maybe especially when)
it doesn't make good sense to us.  Just do what God asks and
let Him create the results.

So: Submit To The Lord: -- This is where the rubber meets the
road.  Ananias could have trusted God and then not gone to 
Saul.  But, he went beyond listening to God, or even trusting Him.  He 
trusted to the point of obedience.  Yes, like us, he argu-
ed with God, looking for an excuse to get him out of this job, but,
ultimately he obeyed, and God did great things.  So, stop argu-
ing with God, and just do what He says.  Trust in Him, be baptiz-
ed into His Son, as Saul was, and watch the good that the Lord
will do.   --------- David Thurman in Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 29, July 
18, 2008.   </HTML>
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