In his book about Paul, Pastor Chuck Swindoll calls Ananias of the Bible as one of the forgotten heroes of the faith. As you might recall, God asked Ananias to go and meet Saul—who later became Paul—to pray for him so he could see again. It literally shocked him because as far as he was concerned, Paul was perhaps the evilest of all. But Ananias obeyed and he went. And, Paul received his sight.

There are no more references to Ananias other than in that short paragraph in the Book of Acts. But, as Chuck Swindoll says, Ananias was a hero by virtue of the fact he selflessly obeyed God. Chuck Swindoll adds, “A rare few in God’s family enjoy fame and renown, position and influence. The great majority, however, are the Ananiases of the world . . . doing precisely what God has asked them to do in precisely the place He’s called them to go.” Amen!

We are Ananiases of the world; we are not known by many, only by a few, but that’s fine because what matters to God is not fame and fortune, but rather faith and obedience. As long as we, like Ananias of the Bible, just do precisely what God asks us to do in precisely the place He calls us to go, we are blessed.

The other day Santy found a picture of our Bible Study group which was taken a long time ago. There are faces that are no longer with us today and seeing that brought sadness to my heart. They have preceded us home but more importantly, they have completed what God has asked them to do in precisely the places He’s called them to be. We who remain are not done yet; there are still things to do and places to be. Sometimes the instruction is easy to follow, sometimes, hard. But, as Oswald Chambers says, “If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything—it is a delight.”

Pastor Paul