We asked you yesterday what Ananias and the other Christians could learn from Paul’s conversion.  Paul was a bit of a prodigy among the Pharisees, and was on a mission to eradicate Christianity.

Now Ananias has been sent to find him, and is scared, since he’s a Christian being sent to a formidable Christian killer!

I think they both learned to trust God, even when they’re faced with a formidable opponent.  That God is bigger, stronger, and greater than Paul and the corrupt system he represents.  Ananias learns to trust God, not his fear of a nasty opponent, or the possibility of death at his hands.

Paul learns to trust God, not himself, and so does Ananias.

Both are made quite vulnerable.  While Paul is blind, Ananias could have exacted revenge on behalf of the church Paul decimated.  Ananias goes to help Paul and his posse, knowing it could be a trap or otherwise a painful mistake.

But God has a plan for everyone, even prodigies like Paul.

He can use Paul’s energy, travelling skills, speaking skills and more to bring the gospel to new people groups.  It happened on the Road to Damascus when he was thrown from his horse.

He also has a plan for each of us.

One summer, I working at a summer job between years in my engineer degree, and I realized my life experience so far only made sense if I offered my whole life to serving God.  If I was going to be an engineer, I’d wasted a lot of time working at group homes for homeless kids, volunteering as a paramedic and first responder, and more.  But if I was going to be a minister and evangelist, then it all made sense.

A few y ears later, it went a step further as I found God using my background in web development, and my education as an engineer, to develop the mobile app and web site you’re using right now.  God is using the skills I learned earlier for myself, now he’s using it for himself.

There are millions of stories like this, of how God takes self-confident people with potential to really go places, and stops them ni their tracks.

 

Challenge: Are you more like Ananias, or Saul? Are you driven more by fear, or self-confidence?  Pray that God will interrupt you and show you who to risk helping or trusting?

Meeting with a Group?  Your discussion questions are in this week’s Group Study Guide

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