Sunday, May 29,
2022
SEEING THE FUTURE!
Acts
9:6
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what
wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go
into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
Acts
9:10-17
10 And there was a certain disciple at
11 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,
12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in,
and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man,
how much evil he hath done to thy saints at
14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind
all that call on thy name.
15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he
is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles,
and kings, and the children of
16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for
my name's sake.
17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and
putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even
Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that
thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
When Paul,
bruised from his fall and blinded by the sight of the Almighty, asked regarding
his future God sent the answer to someone else! I find myself
often, almost desperately, asking “Lord what wilt thou have me to do?” I wonder
if one of my friends may have been given my answer! When God does not
immediately answer such a prayer it may not be that He has not answered but
that the answer has been given to another. That person will come into your life
to guide you through your temporary blindness and to instruct you regarding God’s
purpose.
It is both frustrating and merciful that God does not answer our questions regarding our own
future as quickly and as thoroughly as we would like. We are both eager and
anxious to know but God knows that the information is too strong to be taken in
gulps, so he reveals it to us in sips!
Saul/Paul was a doer!
His deep convictions spurred him to action. Because he felt that this newly
formed Christianity was a threat to his beloved Judaism, he requested and was granted
authority to pursue and punish the followers of “this way.” The action somehow
confirmed his belief. Now that he had so dramatically met the Lord, his belief
had changed. In an instant he knew that he had been wrong about Christians and
the Christ. Now he asks “what wilt thou have me to do” because his actions no
longer paralleled his belief system. A new belief system, Paul
thought, mandated a new course of action. He was right!
God did not answer his question but told him to go into the city and “it shall be told thee
what thou must do.” God is consistent! Throughout the Old Testament God
led step by step instead of mile by mile. To Abraham it was told
that he must follow before he knew the destination. Heb 11:8 tells us that “By faith Abraham, when he was called
to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance,
obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.”
God does not withhold information to tease and torment us but to protect us. For Paul his
future included suffering! He was transformed from the tormentor to the
tormented, from the hunter to the hunted. The same kind of pain he had thought
to inflict upon believers would one day be inflicted upon him. He did not need
to know it all immediately, but God would gradually reveal it to him.
Ananias saw Paul’s future clearly and it may be that God will show us the destiny of others
more clearly than our own. If He does, then he has selected us to be a guide to
that person and a mentor. We have been given a great gift of seeing someone
else’s future along with an assignment to help them find it.
Which are you today Paul or Ananias? Are you desperately seeking your future? If so, be on the
watch for your guide. Are you watching a life that Jesus is
changing? Do you see someone’s future more clearly than they see it themselves?
Then you have been given the gift of both knowing and guiding.
You are the Ananias in the life of someone else.
Dear Lord, while I desperately await someone to guide me,
help me to be a guide to someone else. AMEN
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