Fear vs Obedience

What is the most difficult thing that God could be asking you to do today that you feel you cannot do or don't want to do? If you just thought of something, then this just may be an indication that God wants you to do that very thing.  The Lord has a long established pattern of asking those who follow Him to do what they feel they can't do, go through or don't want to do!

"Not him, Lord that's impossible".  He can never become a Christian!  He is Saul, everyone knows that he is a persecutor of the church (Acts 9:9-16)… This was Ananias' response when the Lord asked him to meet up with Saul and bring His news of salvation and plans for him.

What caused Ananias to question God?  It was "fear"!  Rather than seeing God as the most powerful of all the earth, he saw the possibility of his own imprisonment and death.  Why? Because Saul held the warrant for Ananias' arrest.  Wouldn't that get you a little unnerved too?

There is a little Christian problem with that- The term "believer" that all Christians are called makes the bold statement of what we are to do and represent.  We ought not to be unnerved when The Lord is placing a challenge of trust in front of us.  If we are seeing God as the MOST POWERFUL of ALL the earth then our first response would/should be: God has my back!  He has me in the palm of His hand and no matter what He is asking me to do, comfortable or not I have nothing to fear!
So here we have Ananias as an example of God calling us to the very thing that we don't want to do or feel we can't do in order for us to learn to have complete trust in His ability to protect and keep us safe.  God told Ananias to go help the very man that was out looking for him in order to arrest him, BUT Ananias cast down his initial thoughts and fears and decided to obey God instead.

Now unbeknown to Ananias, God was already hard at work preparing Saul for Ananias' visit.  God sent a blinding light to knock Saul right off his self-righteous saddle and turned his life upside down!


The Lord said, hmmm, a temporary blindness should do the trick!  That will stop Saul in his tracks to give my servant Ananias time to tell him My message.  Saul’s first experience in his new life was a soft touch of a stranger’s voice calling him “brother.”   Ananias' message left such a lasting impression on Saul, that we see later on when he was recounting his conversion, Ananias was the only one that he mentioned by name.

Although The Lord only shined down on Ananias' momentarily, it was a very significant moment!  He played a small, but powerful role in a big picture.  And although God clearly explained His plans for Saul to Ananias; He probably didn't grasp the full scope of that event to which he was called to participate in.  Fortunately, we are not expected to understand The Lord's entire plan and what He can accomplish through our "small or seemingly insignificant efforts".  We are simply asked to be faithful in our part of the big picture.  What are the "small" opportunities that are already before you to practice trust, faith and obedience today?  What seemingly impossible mission (s) are you facing or sensing The Lord is placing in front of you?  Let it go and trust God, He has you in the palm of His hand!

Remember this: Fear draws attention to the need for obedience.

Allow God's power to remove the false cloak of fear and be robed with the garment of Power, Trust, and a Sound Mind!

What a Trusting God We Serve!

Be Highly Blessed Today!
Rev Deb