When the Lord spoke to Ananias, his response was “Here I am, Lord” (Acts 9:10). In other words, “Here I am; here is my mind, my heart and my willingness.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul” (Acts 9:11).
Saul??? The name sent a chill through Ananias. Saul was not only feared by the followers of Jesus, but Saul had become the symbol of evil and persecution. The Lord said, “At this moment he (Saul) 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” (Acts 9:12).
Ananias’ story reminds us that we must be willing to serve as the Lord’s bridge to those who are lost, to those whom our Lord would have us reach out.
If you sensed that you had received a divine commission to do something extraordinary, what would you do? Would you first seek to validate your sense of call with others or would you go ahead and act on what you believed in your heart God was calling you to do?
What kinds of barriers exist that sometimes prevent us from being “open” to God’s call to act on our faith?
October 9, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I’d like to think that I would answer without hesitation. But the reality is that I would probably seek a second opinion (and maybe even a third or fourth). It’s a sad realization that my faith is not strong enough that I would just up and go wherever God called.
For me personally, I think the biggest barrier is insecurity. Insecurity in my faith, insecurity in myself and insecurity concerning what those around me are thinking. I certainly do have to faith to know that God has a very specific plan for my life (and everyone else’s too), I guess for me it’s lack of confidence in delineating what are God’s desires are versus what my own personal desires are. I need to work on listening better to what God is telling me.