Objection Ignored

Acts 9:15 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.

Have you ever just wanted to be heard? You were talking with someone about something important, and you could tell they were somewhere else, or that they didn’t care about what you had to say in that moment. We have all had this experience.

One of the most basic needs of human beings is to be heard. Newborns need their mothers the hear their first attempts as communication or they will die. Those whimpers signal to the outside world in an unknown language. But that language must receive a response.

The tragedy of the Romanian orphans after communism fell in the 80’s tells the story. These infants were ignored and learned the harsh lesson that nobody would care for their most basic needs in life. So they developed coping mechanism based on that knowledge. They learned to self-soothe when no one responded. They turned inward and stayed there.

We sometimes try to voice concerns at home or at work and we get shut down. Our contribution is not appreciated or even acknowledged. It is as if what we have to say doesn’t matter.

Ananias from our text had told the messenger his objections to the plan. Paul, after all, was a Christian killer. Maybe the angel had missed that memo making its rounds on the heavenly office message app.

But Ananias’ concerns are met with a “Go!” But, but, but… “Go!”

In the Army I learned to voice my concerns, but then when the order came, I executed to my best ability. I knew I wasn’t in charge. I knew my place.

Ananias knew his place. He had voiced his concerns, but when the time came, he executed. He knew he wasn’t in charge of his life.

When was the last time you knew the LORD was speaking to you, but you had objections! Did the objections prevent you from the “Go!”? Did they stand in the way of your obedience?

If we let our objections get in the way, we will miss out on seeing the LORD work in spite of our objections. We will miss seeing Him overcome our objections with miraculous interventions. Without Ananias, Saul might not have been Paul.