Acts 9:10-22 New American Standard Bible 1995
10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12 and he has seen [a]in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your [b]saints at Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen [c] instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; 19 and he took food and was strengthened.
Saul Begins to Preach Christ
Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, [d]saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the [e]Christ.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
In the Bible, there is no mention of Ananias before his appearance in Acts 9, and there is only one brief mention of him after that (Acts 22:12).
By all accounts, he was not a tremendous man or a noteworthy leader who had done “great things” by the world’s standards. Unless you changed worldly to Kingdom standards. God saw a faithful heart within him and chose to use him in a tremendous way in the conversion of Saul (who became known as Paul).
Like Ananias, you may not have done tremendous things in your life, gone to amazing places, or gained any sort of great influence and media popularity like the Reverend Dr. Billy Graham or like the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King.
But God is in the business of setting His own standards of greatness, laying His hand upon certain individuals, using them to accomplish His will. Our part is simply to be like Ananias, with ears open, wills ready to hear and obey our God.
The emphasis in this verse is not on the way in which God spoke to Ananias but on the immediate way in which Ananias responded saying: “Here I am, Lord.”
His ear was tuned to hear God.
What about yours?
What about mine?
What about the Churches?
Do we hear God speaking through His word? Is the posture of our hearts such that whatever it is He is calling us to do, that we will say, “Here I am, Lord”?
Ananias’ response to God is remarkable when we consider what God was calling him to do, and for whom.
He had “heard from many about this man [Saul], how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem,” and he knew that in Damascus Saul had “authority … to bind and arrest and imprison all who call on your name” (Acts 9:13-14).
Yet he willingly chose to obey God’s call despite any fear or resentment he had of Saul and his reputation. He heard, and he overcame his fears and he acted.
How often do we “quicken” our fears first, “quicken” our anxieties, excuses?
How often do we make excuses for our own inaction in response to God’s call?
How often do we hide behind our fear or live with excessive caution, forgetting that “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7)? Ananias displayed this powerful spirit through his obedience.
Our culture values big names, big accomplishments, and big media ratings.
God does not have the same preoccupations.
Ananias had no great name or huge fanfare; he simply had an ear open to God’s voice and a will obedient to His command.
This resulted in a life sacrificed for usefulness in God’s service.
And on this day, it meant that he was the first to tangibly extend God’s love and grace to Saul as he reached out his hands and called him “brother” (Acts 9:17).
And so, though he may be a relatively small and quiet, inobtrusive character in the Bible, there is overmuch you and I can and the church learn still from him.
You may receive little to no recognition for your faithfulness to Christ in this life. You may take risks and make sacrifices in service to Him and feel that not much changes and no one notices. But far better than anything this world can give, we look forward to hearing God’s “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21) as we arrive at our time to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 25:19-21 Amplified Bible
19 “Now after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 And the one who had received the five talents came and brought him five more, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted to me five talents. See, I have [made a profit and] gained five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little, I will put you in charge of many things; share in the joy of your master.’
No good work done in His service is ever wasted.
1 Corinthians 15:58 Amplified Bible
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord [always doing your best and doing more than is needed], being continually aware that your labor [even to the point of exhaustion] in the Lord is not futile nor wasted [it is never without purpose].
He weaves it all into the great story of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Restored “Vision” and a Life Very Much Quickened
Acts 9:15-22 The Message
15-16 But the Master said, “Don’t argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to non-Jews and kings and Jews. And now I’m about to show him what he’s in for—the hard suffering that goes with this job.”
17-19 So Ananias went and found the house, placed his hands on blind Saul, and said, “Brother Saul, the Master sent me, the same Jesus you saw on your way here. He sent me so you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes—he could see again! He got to his feet, was baptized, and sat down with them to a hearty meal.
Plots Against Saul
19-21 Saul spent a few days getting acquainted with the Damascus disciples, but then went right to work, wasting no time, preaching in the meeting places that this Jesus was the Son of God. They were caught off guard by this and, not at all sure they could trust him, they kept saying, “Isn’t this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem among the believers? And didn’t he come here to do the same thing—arrest us and drag us off to jail in Jerusalem for sentencing by the high priests?”
22 But their suspicions didn’t slow Saul down for even a minute. His momentum was up now and he plowed straight into the opposition, disarming the Damascus Jews and trying to show them that this Jesus was the Messiah.
When Ananias left the safety of his home, he brought the Lord’s message and Saul received the Holy Spirit, Saul “could see again”! The blindness he had experienced for three days was gone—and so was his spiritual blindness.
Before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, Saul had been sure he had perfect vision and all the answers about God. Saul had been a Pharisee, part of an elite group of Jewish legal experts who believed they had special status with God.
Some Christians go through life thinking they have all the answers.
Some are convinced they know more than anybody else.
When it comes to finding God, they think and even believe they have 20/20 vision and can answer all your questions. Of course, none of us has that kind of “perfect vision,” and no one is ever going to possess all the correct answers.
Even Old Testament Job, who was “blameless and upright” according to the Bible, had to admit that there was much he did not understand. He confessed that he had limited vision, saying to the Lord, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:5).
Job 42:1-6 The Message
Job Worships God
I Babbled On About Things Far Beyond Me
42 1-6 Job answered God:
“I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything.
Nothing and no one can upset your plans.
You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water,
ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’
I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me,
made small talk about wonders way over my head.
You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking.
Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’
I admit I once lived by rumors of you;
now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears!
I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise!
I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.”
We too need to humble ourselves before the Lord and ask him to remove any “scales” from our eyes so that we can “see” him and “serve” him faithfully.
Saul had his physical and spiritual vision restored.
Saul did not run away to continue his over zealous pursuit of “followers” to keep arresting them and throwing them into irons and then into a prison.
He immediately recognized that the hand of God and his Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit was millstone heavy upon his shoulders, as he stood up to eat.
His life quickened, spent his first days getting acquainted with those Damascus disciples, getting oriented to the weight of the burden placed upon the disciples.
And then without hesitation, he left, got down to the Lord’s business in the local synagogues declaring the word of the Lord and Jesus Christ as our Savior.
Despite all the attitudes “They were caught off guard by this and, not at all sure they could trust him, they kept saying, “Isn’t this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem among the believers? And didn’t he come here to do the same thing—arrest us and drag us off to jail in Jerusalem for sentencing by the high priests?”
Saul, who would become Paul, would plant churches, go on far reaching and incredibly dangerous missions, suffering much to teach “Jesus Christ is Lord!”
If we were to hold up our testimony and witness against that of Saul/Paul’s, how many of those “well done, good and faithful servant” words will we hear?
Would our pleas of “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom” be heard or will our eyes, ears, have to suffer through; “begone, I knew you not?”
Psalm 139:23-24 The Message
23-24 Investigate my life, O God,
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
then guide me on the road to eternal life.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 42 The Message
42 1-3 A white-tailed deer drinks
from the creek;
I want to drink God,
deep drafts of God.
I’m thirsty for God-alive.
I wonder, “Will I ever make it—
arrive and drink in God’s presence?”
I’m on a diet of tears—
tears for breakfast, tears for supper.
All day long
people knock at my door,
Pestering,
“Where is this God of yours?”
4 These are the things I go over and over,
emptying out the pockets of my life.
I was always at the head of the worshiping crowd,
right out in front,
Leading them all,
eager to arrive and worship,
Shouting praises, singing thanksgiving—
celebrating, all of us, God’s feast!
5 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God—
soon I’ll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
He’s my God.
6-8 When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse
everything I know of you,
From Jordan depths to Hermon heights,
including Mount Mizar.
Chaos calls to chaos,
to the tune of whitewater rapids.
Your breaking surf, your thundering breakers
crash and crush me.
Then God promises to love me all day,
sing songs all through the night!
My life is God’s prayer.
9-10 Sometimes I ask God, my rock-solid God,
“Why did you let me down?
Why am I walking around in tears,
harassed by enemies?”
They’re out for the kill, these
tormentors with their obscenities,
Taunting day after day,
“Where is this God of yours?”
11 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God—
soon I’ll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
He’s my God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 