Sight Restored

Acts 9:10-22

"In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, LORD," he answered. 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. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight." "LORD," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name." But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." 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." Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?" Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah." 

God leads us. He led Saul and here He is guiding Ananias of Damascus to minister to the future Apostle Paul. God sees and knows all things and He orchestrates events accordingly: “Go to the village ahead of you,” He said. “As you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks why you are untying it,’ tell him that the LORD needs it.” So those who were sent went out and found it just as Jesus had told them (Luke 19:30-32)." Here we commend Ananias for his obedience. He starts with a "Yes, LORD", although his being adamant is understandable faced with the Early Church's most infamous and most violent persecutor, God reveals to Ananias what He is doing (vv. 13-15). God indeed sees deeper within and knows the heart of each person. "When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Surely here before the LORD is His anointed.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; The LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel, who said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either... So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him, for he is the one.” So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah (I Sam 6:6-8, 12-13)." The LORD sees through every one, and we also should not judge by what appears, The Apostle Luke reminds us that it is God who chooses His servants, "in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness (Luke 3:1-2)", and especially those who would change the world for Him, regardless of whether they acknowledge Him and His purposes or not, that they may acknowledge Him, and that the scales that blind them may fall off (v. 18), their sight restored, and proclaim His truth (v. 22): “I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden wealth of secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. “For the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor though you have not known Me. “I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; That people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these (Isa 45:3-7)." Let us praise the LORD this week for His good, pleasing, and perfect will (Rom 12:2)!