And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth. Acts 9:11
As the man approached the house, a large brown dog bounded off the front porch and ran to meet him. As it approached, the dog began to wag its tail in what appeared a friendly manner. However, it also opened its mouth, showed its teeth, and growled fiercely at the man. Alarmed, the man exclaimed, ‘I don’t know which end of that dog to believe!’ That is probably how Ananias felt when the Lord directed him to go and speak to Saul of Tarsus. On the one hand, the man was praying. And if the Lord said he was praying, he was not simply reciting the Jewish prayers of his religion but was actually in communication with God. On the other hand, the man was a notorious persecutor of the Christians, so much so that the very mention of his name caused Ananias to quake. What was he to do? He was to obey the Lord. So should we.
We often receive mixed signals – or even negative signals – when we set out to do something for the Lord. Maybe it’s somebody who we want to invite to a Gospel meeting or to give a Gospel tract to. But that person has been antagonistic toward the Gospel before, or has made disparaging remarks about Christians. But if the Lord leads us to approach that person, and if He gives us an opportunity to do so, we should obey. Of course there is the danger of an insult or a sharp rebuke. But there is also the possibility of a searching soul who is open to receive what we are offering. We just never know what a difference it will make if only we will follow the Spirit’s leading.
Sometimes the Spirit leads us to be a help to a fellow believer, but we have reason to hesitate. Perhaps that other person has not been very friendly to us, or has shown a reluctance to accept our help in the past. Maybe we can’t understand what good our intervention will be to that person. For whatever reason, we hesitate. Like Ananias, we might have good reason to fear the consequences. But think of Ananias in the years that followed, as he watched the career of the magnificent apostle Paul unfold, and was thankful that God had allowed him to be a small part of that. Regardless of the outcome, we never make a mistake when we follow the Spirit’s leading to offer help to a fellow believer. And we might be richly rewarded by seeing God work in great blessing.
What is the Lord asking us to do today? What could we gain by obeying Him? What could we lose by disobeying? -Jim MacIntosh