Did I Hear You Right?

The boys were napping and I was getting in a little Bible reading time. I read a passage of scripture that I've read over and over, but for some reason it's never struck me like it did this time.
We all know the story of Saul to Paul right?
If not, go read Acts 9!
Let's not focus on Saul for min. ok? Let's take a look at Ananias.

"And the Lord said to him, 'Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul...'"

"Ananias answered, 'Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.'"

But the Lord told Ananias to Go and he did.

But this is what got me. What if he hadn't gone? What if he ignored that voice? What if he justified not going with how dangerous and life threatening it would be for him if he did?

What would have Saul's life looked like if Ananias did not obey the Lord? How would things have turned out differently? Would there have been less followers of Jesus? Less people reached? Less people ministered to?

And your wondering why this even matters? Because Ananias did obey the Lord and Saul became Paul. And Paul became a disciple of Jesus who made disciples.

But then I start to think about my own life. Have there been times I've ignored that still, small voice? Have I ignored promptings from the Lord? Have I justified ignoring those promptings with the thought that whatever has been asked of me won't really make a difference?

We need to open our ears. We need to always be listening. We need to be looking for opportunities for the Lord to use us. Because something small (or big) could change one life and that one life could change so many other lives.

We can't always see the effect of what God asks us to do, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is being obedient.

Even if we don't think it will make a difference, we can't underestimate a powerful God.
God took a man who was capturing and killing followers of Jesus, transformed his life, and used him to  bring so many to Him. He used the least likely to proclaim His Glory.

Have you listened to Him today?
Oh, Lord, open our ears to hear and eyes to see.