Rise and Go

Hey Church,

    If God spoke to you audibly, and asked you to do something way outside of your comfort zone, what would you say? There’s a great story in Acts that you’re probably familiar with involving the apostle Paul before his conversion, and a man named Ananias, that illustrates that question well. The story starts in Acts 9:10-12 where we read the following.

¹⁰ 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.” ¹¹ 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, ¹² 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.”

      The first thing that gripped me as I read the story this past week was Ananias’ immediate response to God. He hears the voice of God calling to Him, and without pause responds, “Here I am, Lord.” There’s no delay or debate, no excuses or exercises in pretending not to hear. At least not yet. No, Ananias starts off the story well, in responding rapidly with great enthusiasm to the call of God.

    But things change quickly for Ananias as he hears the details of the message that God brings. It’s rare in the Scriptures for God to give anyone an easy assignment, and Ananias is no exception. As God instructs, Ananias is to leave his house and seek out a man named Saul, whom he is to then lay hands on and pray for, so that he may regain his sight. The assignment is straightforward enough, but after responding with such great faith at Gods initial call, Ananias begins to backtrack once he hears the details of the job.

    “But Lord!” Ananias answers. “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.”

    Have you ever been there? Have you ever been in that place where you feel God not asking but calling you to do something- only to answer that call back with a big “but?”

BUT Lord, if I move out now he may not want to still be with me.

BUT Lord, if I invite that co-worker to church things may get weird at work.

BUT Lord, if I give that money away I don’t know how I’m going to pay some bills this month.

    I don’t know about you, but I know I have these Ananias-like experiences often. I have those moments where I’ve got excuse after excuse for why I don’t really need to do that thing that I feel like God is calling me to. I shudder to think how many blessings I’ve missed out on because I was too busy saying “But Lord!” to claim them.

    Fortunately for all of us who have been so profoundly impacted by Paul’s later ministry, Ananias’ story does not stop here. Instead of rebuking him for his objections God reassures him, and provides further insight into why he’s sending Ananias on such a seemingly dangerous mission. As Luke records,

¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” ¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house.

    As I reflect on God’s reaction to Ananias’ objection, I cannot help but marvel at His patience and grace. He doesn’t waste a moment condemning Ananias for his seeming lack of faith. There’s no shaming here. No “You should have believed me the first time, no questions asked” rebuke. Instead there is merely a restating of the call with a few additional details to help calm Ananias’ fear.

    So that’s the story of Ananias. But what’s all this have to do with our little church here at Faith? So much! As I’ve been sharing over these past few weeks through our “Lessons from the Wilderness” series and my last newsletter article, I believe that much like He did with Ananias, God is preparing to call us into a season of scary obedience. And our instinct in this season will be to question Him as He does so, just like Ananias did.

     So hear me when I say this church, God is big enough for the questions. Much like Ananias we must walk through this season even with all the “But Lord!” objections that it is sure to bring. My hope though is that in light of Ananias’ story, we’ll ask those questions from a place of faith, and not fear. God called Ananias to a scary obedience not because He wanted to harm him, but because He wanted to bless him. Because of his obedience we remember his name thousands of years later and he has had a personal stake in the billions of people who have been influenced by the Apostle Paul’s teachings. So as we face our own Ananias’ moments together in the months to come let us say as he did, “Here I am Lord”.