“Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’ The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So, they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
“Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ And he said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.’ But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’ So, Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened.” [1]
Two years ago, Paul David Tripp published an article bearing the title of this message. [2] His article stimulated me to focus on the difficult tasks God sometimes calls us to undertake. God does not always call us to the mundane, the routine; in fact, He will often call His people to attempt the impossible. Or worse still, God will appoint us to do things that we just hate. God will back us into a corner where we have no choice but to do what He appoints us to do, and we hate it. If we will ever get the job done, it will be obvious that it was God that did the work. We may have been the instrument of grace that He used, but He did it.
Have you ever had that experience? Have you ever received a task from God that you hated, even though you knew that you were responsible? As a relatively new follower of Christ, God appointed me to teach a class of nine-year-old boys. Nine-year-old boys are a challenge to anyone, much less a twenty-two-year-old graduate student with limited time. Nine-year-old boys are all afflicted with ADHD—they simply can’t sit still and listen to anything the teacher says.
More than forty years passed from those heady days when I was teaching those boys when I attended a pastoral conference in Washington State at the invitation of the denomination hosting the event. On the second day of the conference, a younger pastor approached me to ask if I knew who he was. I confessed that I didn’t know who he was. He then identified himself as one of those nine-year-old boys I had taught so many years ago in Dallas, Texas. Now, he was a preacher pastoring in Oregon. He said that I had been instrumental in encouraging him to accept the appointment of God. I was obedient, fulfilling a task that I can’t say I enjoyed, and God was at work. Who gets the glory? The Living God!
Another event in the early days of my walk with the Lord served to teach me that God does sometimes appoint His people to do hard things—things they absolutely hate doing! During the early years of my Christian pilgrimage, I set aside time each Tuesday to visit in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas. Supremely confident in my abilities, I had prayed, brazenly asking God to give me the hard jobs. The Lord heard and answered my prayer, to my dismay. I knocked on the door of cult members multiple times in the weeks following that prayer. Wow! Talk about a challenge! The Lord stood with me, and I acquitted myself well despite my youth. However, my confidence took a hit. I was absolutely shaken to the core by what I experienced, even though I was learning to trust that God is well able to do far more than we can expect or imagine.
What about you? Have you ever held a job that that caused you to fear getting up each morning? Have you ever been appointed to perform a task as part of that job that made you want to resign? Has God ever appointed you to do something that you dreaded even attempting? Perhaps one thing even now lurks in your imagination that if God asked you to do that thing, you would be tempted to say “No!” and run as far away as you could run.
In today’s study, we will meet a follower of Christ who was given what surely appeared to be the worst job description ever, at least to the man who was assigned this impossible task. Despite his fear, this brother in the Lord went willingly toward what made him fearful instead of running away. Studying how this man performed this impossible task will encourage God’s people in their service today. Let’s look at the worst job description ever.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND — “Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” [ACTS 9:1-2].
The antagonist of the account we will study today is a man named Saul. He is from the city of Tarsus. Educated at the feet of a revered Jewish sage named Gamaliel, this man was zealous for the religion known as Judaism. Okay, zealous doesn’t do justice to the sentiments of this Saul from Tarsus. Perhaps “rabid” would fit the situation better. Of his background, this man would later write, “You have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers” [GALATIANS 1:13-14].
On another occasion, when establishing his credentials from his early life, this man would write, “If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless” [PHILIPPIANS 3:4b-6]. A persecutor of the church is offered as proof of his zealotry. He knew the Law and kept every minutiae of that Law perfectly.
Later, when this man himself was being persecuted by the Jewish leaders, he addressed the Council. This is how he began his apologia that day when he stood before that august body. “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished” [ACTS 22:3-5].
Later still, when arraigned before King Agrippa, this man testified of his life, “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities” [ACTS 26:9-11].
The consistent testimony of this man was that he considered these Christians as vermin, an encumbrance upon the ground that needed to be rooted out and extirpated. He was one of the first of myriads who persist to this day in an effort to rid the earth of these Christians, these followers of the Way.
According to the Pew Research Centre, Christians are the most persecuted group in the world. China had the highest score on the “Government Restrictions Index,” and India had the highest score on the “Social Hostilities Index.” [3] One study estimates that 345 Christians are killed for faith-related reasons each month. One hundred five churches and Christians buildings are burned or attacked each month; 219 Christians are detained without trial, arrested, sentenced and imprisoned each month. [4]
Christian women appear to be most vulnerable; the enemies of the Faith realise that a key to destroying Christian communities is to destroy women. If there are no mothers, there will be no propagation of those related to the faithful. In addition to the intense and continued attacks against the Faith from Islam throughout the world, the two most populous nations in the world stand in opposition to the Faith. China seeks to silence the faithful through multiplying laws to control religion and India is silent as attacks inspired by Hindu zealots are ignored.
Let’s look a little more closely at the zealotry of this rabid man. In the text, we read, “Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” [ACTS 9:1-2]. This man hated the message of the gospel and was driven—driven—to do anything he could to wipe it out. He had been commissioned by the chief priests to capture anyone who called upon Jesus’ name and drag them bound to Jerusalem for trial, imprisonment and most likely, death. Men, women—fathers, mothers, their status did not matter to him; he intended to extirpate this new religion by stamping it out. This man meant business—he took seriously his appointment to quell this troublesome little sect of Messianic Jews before they acquired too much influence.
You begin to understand the struggle any follower of the Master would feel at the mere mention of the name “Saul of Tarsus.” We struggle with fear more frequently than we care to admit. Our hearts are constantly torn between fear and faith. It’s the bipolar nature of every Christian who still has sin inside of them, no matter how long we have walked with the Lord or how many feats we have seen our God accomplish. I can testify that I struggle with fear each time the Spirit prompts me to speak to someone about the Saviour. After all these years, I’m hesitant—and so are you.
Fear is a natural part of life. Think about the fears that we face in our Christian lives. We’re afraid that we won’t be able to pay our bills, so we don’t give joyfully and liberally to support the work of the congregation or to the advance of the Faith. We know the hydro bill is coming next week, and we will be billed for our Internet and television package. Maybe we don’t watch all two-hundred-fifty-two channels, but we have them! And we have to pay for them. Maybe we will just avoid being as generous in our giving this week so that we can have a little extra for that new dress we want.
We’re afraid of what our neighbors, coworkers or family members will think of us, so we don’t share our faith as vocally as we should. Our neighbours know we go to church; that should be enough. Right? And didn’t we say that we would pray for them when we heard their mother had died? Isn’t that enough?
We’re afraid that we will be rejected, so we don’t lovingly confront a brother or sister in Christ when they most need us to hold them to account. We don’t want anyone to think we are prying into their private life. Oh, yeah, we know they are acting in a self-destructive fashion and the choices they are making are definitely a disgrace to the Name of Christ, but we hired the preacher to take care of that sort of stuff. Let him do what we hired him to do!
We’re afraid of looking stupid, so during Bible study, we don’t ask the questions that have been plaguing our faith. We know the leader won’t say anything, but everyone will know that we don’t have it all together. Look, people think that I really know the Bible. What would they think if I actually asked the question that really bothers me? How would it look if others knew the answer and I was seen as really dense?
We’re afraid of failure, so we don’t attempt to make the most of the gifts that God has given us. This culture is success driven. If we fail, we will look bad. We won’t be respected as we should be if we don’t succeed. All that talk about the only failure is the failure to try doesn’t really take into account what it feels like when I’m not part of the success we’ve come to expect.
We’re afraid to leave the comforts of our predictable lives, so we don’t step out into that ministry opportunity. Working to establish a new preaching point? Do you know what that would mean to my own scheduling? How would I be able to arrange my life if I took on that responsibility? Expanding the media ministry of the church? I’m not technologically capable! A ministry to the street people of our community? That is intimidating!
We’re afraid of what people will think if they really get to know us, so we find it more comfortable to hide rather than being open and vulnerable. [5] If people knew the struggles I have, they would be disgusted. If they knew how insecure I feel… If they knew how intimidated I can be when meeting new people…
I know it’s true for me, and I’m sure it’s true for you as well: FAITH COLLIDES WITH FEAR IN OUR HEARTS MORE THAN WE TEND TO THINK IT DOES. Our confessional theology doesn’t always match our functional theology. Much of what we do is propelled by fear, and not motivated by a sure and restful faith in the presence, power and promises of the Lord.
ENTER ANANIAS — “Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ And he said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.’ But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name’” [ACTS 9:10-16].
Talk about a shock! Ananias was minding his business, spending time in the presence of the Lord, when he was startled by a vision in which the Lord spoke to him. Sensitive to the Spirit of God, Ananias immediately responded, just as you would respond, “Here I am, Lord.” You would respond to the Lord’s call, wouldn’t you? Perhaps he was expecting that God was about to give him a message, guide him to a passage of the Word, or perhaps commend him for his faithful service. Whatever he was expecting was not what he was about to receive!
The Lord directed Ananias to Straight Street. He was to search out the house of a man named Judas. Get the drift.
“Ananias.”
“Aye Lord; You called!”
“Go to Straight Street.”
“Rodger that, God.”
“Look for the house of Judas.”
“Check.”
“Ask for a man named Saul from Tarsus.”
“Rodger that… Uh, say again, Lord? I believe Your last command was seriously garbled—probably static on the line. You might want to repeat that.”
The Lord informed Ananias that Saul—the same Saul that had an outsized reputation for persecuting the people of God, was praying—PRAYING! And by implication, he was praying to Jesus! More than that, this man known for attempting to destroy the assembly in Jerusalem had received a vision in which he had seen a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him in order that he might regain his sight. Though he did not have physical sight at that point, already, God was giving him spiritual sight so he could see the next step.
Ananias wasn’t finished with his objections to God’s command. Much like us, he thought he had a better handle on things than did God. “Uh, Lord, maybe you’re not aware, but I’ve heard about this man. I’m reliably informed that he is a timebomb for the faithful. Haven’t you heard how much evil he has done to Your people in Jerusalem. Why, he is the reason that the congregation has been scattered! This fellow is pure evil. If that isn’t enough, he has received authority from the chief priests to take captive anyone who dares call on Your Name!”
Ananias wasn’t just blowing smoke. He wasn’t simply malingering. He wasn’t shirking responsibility. He was genuinely fearful—and he had good reason to be afraid! Saul of Tarsus was a rabid boar within the vineyard of the Lord. I know that modern scholars have suggested that Paul exaggerated his former deeds to make the transformation he experienced look more impressive. I don’t think he exaggerated anything. I believe that he tempered the account of his former life because he didn’t want anyone to think that he was glorifying his wickedness.
What we are witnessing is a phenomenon each of us has experienced at some time. Ananias was experiencing a collision between faith and fear. Let’s be honest—Ananias had every right to be afraid. This man he was to approach was pure evil. Saul was violent in the extreme. Candidly, the job description for what Ananias was assigned to do would put a lump in your throat and send shivers down your spine. If you felt no fear, it would be an indication that you had become deranged. The only people without fear are those who have never faced reality. Before combat, everyone is a hero. Those who have heard the bullets cracking overhead, those who faced the enemy, know what fear is. The Christian who boasts of her bravery has had no opportunity to hear the lion’s roar or to feel the hot breath of the dragon.
Ananias had every reason to be fearful of his assignment; nevertheless, he obeyed the Lord’s command. His fear of God was greater than his fear of the assignment he had received. Here is an important truth—only the fear of God will ever defeat fear of man. Fear of God is the greater fear that allows you to overcome the fear of man. Fear of what you may face or of where you may be appointed to go will paralyse you, until you fear God supremely.
We might well ask what the fear of God looks like. Ananias’ response to God’s appointment reveals what will be seen when we fear God supremely. His reverential awe of God, his faith in the power and glory of the Lord, allowed him to move deliberately toward the very thing he had previously feared. That situation from which you would normally run becomes is conquered because you are in the powerful hands of the Living God. Whom God appoints, He equips. Where God assigns, He leads. Ananias didn’t cease fearing Saul, but his fear of God allowed him to do the impossible task. A great truth for each Christian to hold in mind is that our vertical fear—fear of God—ultimately determines what we will do and say. Our horizontal fear—fear of people, fear of places and fear of things—no longer holds sway over the one who fears God supremely.
Do you suppose that Ananias no longer feared Saul? Do you imagine that he no longer was afraid to go into the presence of this mad persecutor of the faithful? The Bible is silent concerning his emotions. Candidly, I can imagine that Ananias prayed constantly as he moved deliberately toward fulfilling the appointment he had received from the Lord. I can imagine that like Esther, he considered that he might well die. He may have even said, “If I perish, I perish” [ESTHER 4:16b]. However, even the possibility that he would die a violent death no longer deterred Ananias. This godly man moved toward God in fear rather than moving away from Saul in fear. Fear of God allows us to do the impossible, because we know that we are instruments of grace in the hand of the omnipotent God.
That brings us back a short time before God called Ananias. We see Saul, the rabid persecutor of the Lord’s people as he nears Damascus. He had every intention of devastating these worshippers of Jesus, these “Easter worshippers,” as some politicians identify them when they are hurt. However, the Lord had other plans at this time.
THE LORD’S FAITHFULNESS — “As [Saul] went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’ The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank” [ACTS 9:3-9].
Whenever God wants to accomplish a great task, He searches for someone small enough to ensure that He receives the glory. If you are facing what you have decided is an impossible task, understand that God appointed you precisely because He knows He will be glorified through your service. Because you have been assigned what appears impossible, you may be assured that God is confident of your faithfulness. Know that the Lord will ensure that what He has asked of you will be accomplished. You will succeed, because it is the Lord who appointed you. Of course, this implies that God appointed you and that you didn’t make this decision on your own. God will not bless presumptuous sin, but He will enable us to do the impossible when He has appointed.
Saul, the enraged Jewish scholar, wasn’t really ignorant of the Lord of Glory, but he was ignorant of Christ’s power. Saul thought he could destroy the faith of Christ’s followers by attacking them. He thought that by destroying the faithful he would destroy the Risen Saviour. However, Saul could no more destroy the Son of God than he could fly by thinking he was light. The wicked of this world cannot stop the unstoppable advance of the Kingdom of Heaven. Only the churches can hinder the work of God through being faithless. And even then, God will renew His work among people that have not previously known His power.
The inevitable and inexorable advance of the Faith isn’t the work of mere mortals—this is the divine work of the Living God! Saul didn’t understand this because he had confused religion with the Faith. Saul didn’t know that he was on a fool’s mission and that when God moved, even the evil Saul would advance the cause of the Risen Christ.
“Surely the wrath of man shall praise you.”
[PSALM 76:10a]
Saul of Tarsus, brilliant rabbi and rabid persecutor of the faith, would experience the power of the very One he hated with such intensity. As he travelled toward Damascus, intent on destroying the Faith in that city, this seemingly unstoppable man would crumple under the infinite power of the Risen Saviour. The maddened rabbi would hear the voice of the Master, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” The revelation of the Risen Lord would drive Saul to the ground and leave him helpless, blinded and cowed. He would be directed to go into Damascus where he would be instructed to wait for further instructions.
Reading the account of God’s intervention in the life of Saul of Tarsus, we witness the power of rescuing grace unfolding before our eyes. The Risen Saviour is in the business of making bad people good, of redeeming the most wicked individuals we can imagine. It is a reality that may have begun in that ancient world, but it continues to this day. Recent reports detail how the grace of our Lord is reaching violent, wicked people.
A YWAM worker in the Middle East reports meeting a man who had been an ISIS fighter. This violent man began having dreams of a man in white who came to him and said, “You are killing my people.” This man had taken a Bible from one man whom he had killed. This violent man actually began reading the Bible he had taken. In short, this former ISIS fighter had a dream in which Jesus, the man in white, asked him to become a follower of Christ and to be discipled. [6]
The testimony of this man who was redeemed from a life of violent opposition to the Risen Saviour would prove to be similar to that of Saul of Tarsus after he had come to faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. Saul, known to us as Paul after his conversion, wrote to a young preacher, “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” [1 TIMOTHY 1:12-15].
In our disappointment when we have been attacked, or even when we’ve witnessed believers attacked, we forget that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” What is worse, we forget that we were once enemies of God, we were in opposition to the Master. Nevertheless, He called us and redeemed us, drawing us by His Spirit and removing our sin. Christ the Lord extended His grace and mercy to us that are called by His Name. We were saved by the grace of God because we put our faith in the Risen Son of God. What Christ did for us, He is able to do for all who look to Him. We need to remain focused, praying for those who oppose Him and speaking boldly in His Name to all, even those who appear bitter toward the Son of God and enraged toward us who believe.
ANANIAS’ OBEDIENCE REWARDED — “So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized” [ACTS 9:17-18].
Imagine what it must have been like for Ananias to enter the house where Saul was waiting for him. As he crossed over the threshold, we might speculate that he wondered whether he would he be seized, bound and executed? What would it be like to be face-to-face with this notorious persecutor of the faithful? What vile invective would he be subjected to when Saul understood who Ananias was and why he had come? But in a surprising twist, the Saul whom Ananias encountered was not a man to be feared, but a man to be pitied and loved.
What appeared to be the worst job description ever was actually the best gospel opportunity ever. Ananias was called to go to Damascus and, with his hands and words, make the invisible grace of Jesus visible. Ananias laid his hands on Saul and addressed him as “brother.” The touch of Ananias’ hands was the incarnation of the accepting hands of the Savior. The word “brother” defined the glorious message of God’s adoption for Saul. With one little act, the life of this murderous man was changed forever, and the legacy of the Apostle Paul’s ministry has since shaped the faith of every person who has ever believed in Jesus.
It’s almost impossible to capture with words the paradox of grace in this story. By grace, God robbed Saul of all his evil power to fill him with holy power. By grace, God rendered Saul blind so that for the first time in his life, he would truly see. By grace, this agent of death was being called to find new life in the death of Jesus. By grace, this man who was radically committed to destroying the Lord’s holy people would be called to radically build the Kingdom of God. By grace, this messenger of threats and murder who hated the words of the Lord would become one of the most prolific messengers of the Word of the Lord.
Did you note Ananias’ salutation when he met Saul? “Brother Saul?” Really? Brother? The man who was responsible for imprisoning so many of Ananias’ fellow believers was called “Brother?” The man who bore major responsibility for the murder of Stephen, one of the first deacons, was called “Brother?” The man who was intent of extirpating the Faith was called “Brother?” Something exceptionally strange, something inexplicable, was taking place. By God’s revelation, the evil man was transformed into a saint, a brother in the Lord.
Ananias wasn’t simply trying to protect himself by trying to get on the good side of this murderous man. Ananias was acting on faith in the Risen Christ. However timid he may have felt, however hesitant he may have been, whatever reservations he may have harboured, he accepted the appointment God made and he would fulfil the will of God to the best of his ability. Ananias committed himself into the hands of the Living God. Like Job when he spoke of his hope in God, Ananias would say, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him” [JOB 13:15a]. What we witness in this account can only be recognised as transformative. God is surely in the business of transforming wicked people to create something new in a darkened world.
Perhaps you never thought of your salvation in this manner. However, when God saved you, He transformed you. You were born again, born from above into the Family of God. All the world is divided into “saints” and “ain’ts.” And when you put your faith in the Risen Son of God, when you believed that He died for you and raised for your justification, you were changed into a saint, a redeemed son of the Living God. This was not a process—it was an event! Through faith in the Risen Saviour, our sin was forgiven, and we have been adopted into the Family of God. Though we were once enemies of God, we have been reconciled to Him by the death of Christ the Lord. It is as the Apostle says, “If while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” [ROMANS 5:10].
This amazing transformation in the life of Saul of Tarsus was openly certified by God’s choice of one timid Christian to be an instrument of his transforming grace in the life of a violent persecutor of the faithful. And that timid Christian, Ananias—the focus of our study, determined he would allow the fear of God to rule his heart. What a story! What a God! And the story isn’t finished; it continues to this day. The God who used Ananias to accomplish such a great transformation is the same God who works in your life today. Do you wonder who will become a powerful servant of the living God through your obedience? It remains to be seen what God can accomplish when you and when I are obedient to His command to go to some individual whom we would otherwise wish to write off.
This story of one fearful saint sent to minister to a violent man is a picture of what God is able to do through the most timid, the most humble believer. It is a picture of what God will do through you when you heed His voice and do His will. The Lord doesn’t need you to be strong, because He is strong. Christ doesn’t need you to be a hero, because He is the Hero of heroes. Rather, the Master chooses to send the timid into the fray, and through His timid saints, He will display the power of His might and the glory of His grace. That is our God; that is how He works. He will use you, and He will use me to accomplish great things.
Is it possible that there is someone waiting for your obedience to be brought into the life of Christ? Is it possible that there is some someone that you, and perhaps others, have decided can never be saved? Yet, in your heart, you know that God is leading you to go to that someone, speaking to that person and telling them that Christ died because of them but that He raised from the dead for them. I have no doubt that if each of us allowed God to work through us, we know at least one impossible person whom God would save because of our obedience.
Hearing that I visited lost people, a woman phoned to ask that I visit her brother. A fellow believer, she was burdened for her brother to be saved. She was seeking someone to tell him of the grace of Christ and to plead with him to be saved. She advised me that her brother had been an associate of Bonnie and Clyde. He was a hard man who had done hard time in prison for his choices during his younger days. It was only by the grace of God that he hadn’t been killed as result of multiple gun battles with the police and as result of his nefarious escapades in earlier years.
I agreed to visit her brother, and I did go to visit him that same week. When I introduced myself at the door, the man cursed me and threatened to shoot me if I did not leave immediately. I held my ground, insisting that I had a message for that man, a message from the Risen Son of God. Indeed, I would leave, but before leaving, I shared my testimony and told him of Christ Jesus and His love for people just like him. My time speaking with that man was measured in moments, but I was determined to make the time count. Nevertheless, when I left, it was impossible to imagine that those brief moments had accomplished anything of eternal value. The man appeared as mean as ever, and he surely was not converted to Christ. Still, I had, to the best of my ability, sought to honour the Lord by obeying His appointment.
I completed studies at the medical school in Dallas and moved my family to San Francisco where I initiated post-doctoral studies in the medical school there. Time passed, and I was busy when some six months after I had visited that man I received a phone call one evening. The individual calling asked if I knew who he was. When I admitted that I didn’t know who he was, the man identified himself as the man I had visited in South Oak Cliff, the man who had once run with the infamous duo now celebrated in film, Bonnie and Clyde, the same man who threatened to shoot me.
Almost breathlessly, he told me that he had become a Christian; he had put his faith in Christ as Lord, and he wanted me to know. He had asked his sister to help him track me down so he could tell me. It had taken him some weeks, but he had at last found me. He told me that he couldn’t quite get away from the thought that someone cared enough to point him to Jesus. Then, one day, attending a church service for the first time since childhood, he openly confessed his faith and was subsequently baptised as a believer in the Risen Lord of Glory. Now, he was phoning to thank me for telling him of Christ.
Wow! Talk about humbling! God had worked as God alone will work. Christ received the glory, but He permitted me to share in that glorious work. Is there some impossible person whom God seeks to save through your obedience? Perhaps you think it is impossible for that person to be saved, they are so notorious in their opposition to the Faith. And yet, you cannot quite escape the thought that God would use you to carry the message of life to that person.
God will call unlikely people to do extraordinary things. When obedience seems risky, God asks one thing of you—Let the fear of God reign in your heart. The Lord is seeking your obedience, not your supposed measure of success. The Risen Son of God, through His Spirit, will do what you and I can never do, but He will employ us to accomplish His will in the life of those whom He will call. He will use, not the most grandiloquent spokesman, not the most polished speaker, not the most learned individual to accomplish His will. Christ will use the humble soul to perform great and mighty things that glorify His Holy Name. Will that someone He uses be you? Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Paul David Tripp, “The Worst Job Description Ever,” November 23, 2017, https://churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/313821-worst-job-description-ever-paul-tripp.html?utm_source=outreach-cl-daily-nl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text-link&utm_campaign=cl-daily-nl&maropost_id=&mpweb=256-7370069-742210145, accessed 13 October 2018
[3] Adam Becket, “Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world, says Pew report,” Church Times, 29 June 2018, https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/29-june/news/world/christians-are-the-most-persecuted-religious-group-in-the-world-says-report, accessed 23 April 2019
[4] “Christian Persecution,” Open Doors, https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/?mwm_id=296238542798&gclid=CjwKCAjw7_rlBRBaEiwAc23rhu6wFTpHW7TOCvCXYGOqYsWVUoobOwHsaNIf0XMWVm_l9MAKzCxyxxoCPOMQAvD_BwE, accessed 23 April 2019
[5] These fears were first articulated by Tripp, op. cit.
[6] Leah Marieann Klett, “Violent ISIS Fighter Converts to Christianity After Encountering Christ In Powerful Dream,” Jun 03, 2015, https://www.gospelherald.com/articles/55860/20150603/violent-isis-fighter-converts-to-christianity-after-encountering-jesus-christ-in-powerful-dream.htm, accessed 29 April 2019; Carey Lodge, “ISIS militant converts to Christianity after meeting Jesus in a dream, 4 Jun 2015, https://www.christiantoday.com/article/isis-militant-coverts-to-christianity-after-meeting-jesus-in-a-deam/55408.htm, accessed 29 April 2019
