Friday Scripture: Acts 9
Believing is Seeing
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10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again.
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Lots of folks have heard of Saul's journey from hater to become Paul, the apostle. Not so many have heard of Ananias, who was called by God to pray for Saul.
"But that's CRAZY, Lord! This guy wants to kill us all--and you want me to PRAY for him?"
Yep.
That's exactly what Jesus wants. If we go on looking for reasons to fear and distrust each other, we'll never run out of evidence. We'll never see that someone is worthy of our trust until we BELIEVE that they are worthy of God's trust.
The scripture records that the scales fell from Paul's eyes that day. Maybe they fell from Ananias' eyes as well. If so, maybe we can stop finger pointing and yelling long enough to believe.
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Lord, today, let the scales fall from my eyes.