SCRIPTURE: Acts 9
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. [John 3:8] In our home we have a carbon monoxide detector, an alarm that can detect this odourless, colourless gas. It can be deadly, yet no one knows that it is doing its deadly work. So it is with the Spirit.
Invisible, imperceptible, the Spirit moves. And Saul is converted. And Tabitha is raised. And the church is strengthened. And Saul witnesses powerfully. And many people believe in the Lord. Like carbon monoxide, the Spirit moves with deadly accuracy, destroying the devil’s work, accomplishing God’s purpose.
Those who are with Saul have no idea what is going on, they hear the sound but see nothing. Yet what they do see is enough: Saul blinded, changed, humbled, converted. He has just been born of the Spirit.
Faith is like a carbon monoxide detector, it is our way of detecting that God is up to something. We sense, we perceive, that God is at work behind the scenes, even if no one else sees it. Persecution? The Spirit is working. Financial upheaval and uncertainty? The Spirit is moving. We are not sure where it comes from and where it is going, but we know it’s there.
I wonder, if we could see daily life through eyes of faith, we would see more and more evidence of God at work. Do we see a difficult boss through eyes of faith, or eyes of self-concern, how it affects me. What if, instead of praying for the defeat of our opponents, we would pray for their conversion, like Paul. Imagine if we prayed for Henry Morgentaler.
The church (community of Jesus-followers) described here is experiencing dramatic impact on the surrounding community. This is not because they are following the right programs or leaders but because the Spirit is moving in and through them, even beyond them. The Spirit is moving, we just need to be available (like Ananias) when He calls us. Where is the Spirit blowing around me today? Around you? Will I join Him with eyes of faith and look at every situation as pregnant with Spirit potential. Nothing is impossible when God is involved. Pray for a big spiritual windstorm, as happened here to Saul. And then, wait and see, see what the Lord will do.
PRAYER:
Lord, open my eyes to see Your Spirit at work all around me!
Tune me in to You Holy Spirit…. I want to see You at work and be used by You…
This passage is about the call of Saul to ministry and how the Lord works through those whom He has called. Once again, I see a total turnabout. Saul working against the Lord and the Lord makes him do a 180 degree turn in his life so that he walks where God desires him to go. Even Ananias couldn’t believe God’s instructions, but he too did as the Lord commanded. And being zealous for the Lord, even the people, religious leaders didn’t trust the new man Saul. But being Spirit driven, Saul proclaimed the Good News and did miracles.
Once again I am reminded that God chooses His own to proclaim the Good News and equips them. I can plant and I can water, but it is the Lord God who gives the increase. Mighty is our God who is at work through His Spirit. God equips His saints/kingdom workers His wonders to perform in His kingdom. As the scales were lifted off Saul’s eyes, they need to be lifted off my eyes so that I too may see His Spirit at work this day through His people.
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You
I want to see You
To see You high and lifted up
Shining in the light of Your glory
Pour out Your power and love
As we sing “Holy, Holy, Holy”
“Holy, Holy, Holy”
“Holy, Holy, Holy”
I want to see you
I want to see you
I want to see you (Oh Lord)
I want to see you