"But 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."
Knowing how Saul was terrorizing Christians at that time, it is no surprise that Ananias was extremely hesitant/nervous/fearful about the Lord's request for him to give a message to Saul on His behalf. I dare say this would have been the most uncomfortable Ananias had ever been in his life, yet he trusted the Lord in obedience and chose to do what the Lord commanded. He chose to obey despite what his flesh was adamantly against.
We all cater to our comforts...it's our natural fleshly reaction. But how often do we choose to step forward in faith and do what is uncomfortable? We tend to calculate personal risk analysis in our faith application which often talks us out of sharing the Gospel or having any faith-related discussion with others. Some of us aren't "talkers" or "writers" so we choose silence over participation and use those excuses as crutches to fall back on to justify our lukewarm behavior or insecurities. Why? What is holding us back as Christians who are saved and have made our faith public in baptism? We can no longer be silent. We must embrace discomfort so that we become acquainted and comfortable with it, otherwise we will continue to marginally grow in our faith by choosing to isolate rather than embrace our faith community. If we wait to step forward or speak up till we become more comfortable, we will never grow to the potential Christ has in store for us. Let this be the moment YOU choose to embrace discomfort once and for all and interact in dialogue so that your countenance and the countenance of others can be sharpened for the glory of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment