March 14: Following His Guidance.
HIS CALLING
"Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel."--Acts 9:15
The way God guides us in our life purpose is as real as it is enigmatic. God doesn't give us the whole map, but instead guides us one step at a time. Consider the way God guided the prophet Elijah (see 1 Kings 17). First, Elijah told the king that it wouldn't rain for a few years; then God guided him to the brook Cherith, where he would drink and was fed by ravens. Then the brook dried up, and God sent him to the house of a widow in Sidon, outside of Israel's territory, then...
When the risen Jesus met Saul on the way to Damascus, He gave him instructions only for the next step: "Get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do" (Acts 9:6). Jesus didn't show him a map of the next ten years; neither did He disclose all the epistles that he, as the apostle Paul, would write, or the churches he would visit. After his encounter with the risen Christ, Saul discovered that he couldn't see, so he was led to Damascus. In this story, God guided another man through a vision. His name was Ananias, and we don't know much about him (he is mentioned again in Acts 22:12). Ananias got instructions for the next step as well: "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay hands on him (Acts 9:11, 12). God sent two visions: one to Ananias, and another one to Saul. Ananias answered something like, Are you sure? I've heard about this man...the harm he has done to your followers and the purpose of his visit to Damascus....Then the Lord disclosed to Ananias that He had chosen Saul to bear His name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites (verse 15). Ananias went to Saul, laying his hands on him and calling him, "brother Saul." And the rest is history, as Paul began to proclaim Jesus. The same God who designed the plan for your salvation, is the One who promises to guide you in your calling. And He will do it one step at a time.
My Response:_____________________________________________________________
HIS CALLING
"Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel."--Acts 9:15
The way God guides us in our life purpose is as real as it is enigmatic. God doesn't give us the whole map, but instead guides us one step at a time. Consider the way God guided the prophet Elijah (see 1 Kings 17). First, Elijah told the king that it wouldn't rain for a few years; then God guided him to the brook Cherith, where he would drink and was fed by ravens. Then the brook dried up, and God sent him to the house of a widow in Sidon, outside of Israel's territory, then...
When the risen Jesus met Saul on the way to Damascus, He gave him instructions only for the next step: "Get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do" (Acts 9:6). Jesus didn't show him a map of the next ten years; neither did He disclose all the epistles that he, as the apostle Paul, would write, or the churches he would visit. After his encounter with the risen Christ, Saul discovered that he couldn't see, so he was led to Damascus. In this story, God guided another man through a vision. His name was Ananias, and we don't know much about him (he is mentioned again in Acts 22:12). Ananias got instructions for the next step as well: "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay hands on him (Acts 9:11, 12). God sent two visions: one to Ananias, and another one to Saul. Ananias answered something like, Are you sure? I've heard about this man...the harm he has done to your followers and the purpose of his visit to Damascus....Then the Lord disclosed to Ananias that He had chosen Saul to bear His name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites (verse 15). Ananias went to Saul, laying his hands on him and calling him, "brother Saul." And the rest is history, as Paul began to proclaim Jesus. The same God who designed the plan for your salvation, is the One who promises to guide you in your calling. And He will do it one step at a time.
My Response:_____________________________________________________________
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