Trust - 4

But Moses protested to God, "Who am I to appear before Pharaoh....?"  God answered, "I will be with you." 
 Exodus 3:11-12

Can you recall a time when you were asked to take on a task and your immediate response was, "Oh no, I could never do that!"?   Perhaps it was something in the workforce and you didn't have a choice so you did it afraid.  Perhaps it was a position in Christian ministry in your church or on a committee or Board; perhaps it was something you felt God wanted you to do but you really didn't want to do it at all.

There is a man whose story I was reading again recently who was in just such a position, except that this man had very real cause for concern when God spoke to him.  It was a pretty scary time in the history of the early church and Christians were dispersing from Jerusalem for fear of threats to their lives or at least imprisonment which may end in the arena with hungry lions.  One Saul of Tarsus was a scholar and zealous for his Jewish faith.  He knew the scriptures and knew them well.  He knew that the Christians were wrong and he was out to get rid of them.  He would put an end to this "Jesus nonsense" once and for all.  So, armed with letters permitting him to arrest any 'people of the Way' he could find and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial, he set out on his mission.

Nearing Damascus he was blinded by a great light, fell to the ground, heard a voice and asked a question, "Who are you Lord?"  Yes, Saul had an encounter with Jesus Christ and his life was changed forever.    It is the man who was sent to him that caught my attention.  His name was Ananais and the Lord appeared to him in a vision and told him that he should go the house of  Judas and there he would find Saul of Tarsus who was blind.  Ananais' mission was to pray that Saul's sight would be restored.  Now that was a scary mission. " Really Lord?  Don't you know that he's come to kill us all?"  But the Lord told Ananais that he had chosen Saul to carry His name to the Gentiles and in doing so he would suffer much for his message.  This was a huge trust challenge for Ananais.

I thought about Ananais and what he was called to do was; what if he had refused to do it?  Well, no doubt God would have found someone who was willing.  But what if this was to be Ananais' main mission in his whole life and he had missed it through fear and disobedience?  We don't hear of Ananais again but his trust-filled obedience set in motion a whole new part of God's plan to reach mankind.  His one act of obedience opened Saul's eyes to a whole new way of thinking and living.  Now that was radical, but he could have missed his place in history if he had not been obedient.

Is there something God has asked you to do and so far you have resisted?  Perhaps you ought to think again, because if God asked you to do it, then he has also provided the ability and resources for you to accomplish it.  Perhaps your act of obedience will open to you a whole new way of living and ministering or maybe your praying for someone will open the way for their greatness in God's kingdom.  Perhaps this opportunity is what you were created for.  Don't brush it off.  If you are scared, then "do it afraid", as Joyce Meyer says, but do it anyway.

Prayer:  Father, please give me courage to obey you when I feel inadequate so that I allow you to accomplish through me, what you have created me to do.  Amen