4 Lessons From the Life of a Simple Man Named Ananias

There is often a temptation in the life of the average Christian to think of their self as unimportant in the grand scheme of God’s plan. Most of us are not preachers who get the opportunity to preach in front of thousands. Few of us will go off to foreign lands to take the Gospel to the literal ends of the earth. It is easy to think we do not have much impact in our ministry because we compare ourselves to others. This is simply another lie of Satan. In Acts chapter nine we encounter a simple man named Ananias. (Though some may think this is the Ananias we saw in Acts chapter five, who, along with his wife Sapphira, died for lying to the Holy Spirit, it is not the same man.) Ananias was an unknown person whose life is an encouragement to those who minister in obscurity.

Unlike Ananias the Apostle Paul is one of the most well known New Testament characters, having authored a large portion of the New Testament under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  But guess who it was that God sent to Saul (soon to become Paul) to minister to him after his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus? That’s right, Ananias, a man of relative obscurity in scripture. Let’s pick up the narrative from Acts chapter nine.

Acts 9:10-17
 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord."  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, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight."  But 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 said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake."  So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

Warren Wiersbe calls attention to four lessons we can take from this passage in his commentary on the New Testament.

First of all, as I have already alluded to, we see that God can and does use even the simplest and obscure Christian in bringing forth His sovereign plan. Ananias is a virtual nobody in scripture except for his part in the conversion of Saul. He is only found here in Acts chapter nine and in chapter twenty-two where Paul recounts his own conversion. Saul, later called Paul, goes on to be one of the most influential of all men in taking the gospel out and in the growth of the church.

Second in the lessons of this reading is the importance of obedience to God. When He tells us to do something we need to do it. Ananias argued with God before doing what He said and gave a pretty good analysis of why it didn’t seem like a good idea to go and restore the sight of a man who was persecuting God’s own people. The problem is though that we see things from a logical and worldly perspective. God sees things from a sovereign perspective that we are not capable of understanding. Thus what we need to do is simply obey what He calls us to do even if it doesn’t line up with our human thoughts.

The third lesson we see here is that God balances out the spectacular with the ordinary. We see a dramatic event occurring in the bright light and the voice from heaven speaking to Saul in His conversion but this is followed up with the quiet laying of hands upon Saul, which brought His sight back in the private house of Judas where Ananias was sent. Not every important movement of God is done in the bright lights of a stage. Sometimes His work is accomplished where no one sees it. This does not make it any less important.

The fourth and final lesson we see here is that not every one of us is sent to the multitude but sometimes the one person we reach will change the world. Ananias was sent only to Paul. Then Paul was sent to the multitude. Paul isn’t more important than Ananias because without Ananias, Paul is still blind. God used one man to bring sight to another man and that man would then be used by God to bring sight to the whole world.

The overall point we see here is that we must respond to whatever it is God calls us to do and act in obedience without regard to our own fleshly thoughts or desires. God has a plan and it will go through with or without us. But we will find great blessings in Him when we humble ourselves and let God be God. We will see that we are important to God no matter how big or small we think we are.