So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Acts 9:6
Have you ever considered why Jesus refused to answer Paul’s question? The Lord was speaking clearly to him, why did he direct him to Ananias for instruction rather than just telling him in the moment? There are surely many reasons and many lessons that Paul was being taught in the moment. Would he obey rather than question? Would he trust the Lord when so much was left unspoken?
One of the greater lessons to be seen is humility. This was the great Saul of Tarsus, feared among believers for his persecution of them. In Philippians 3 he describes his former confidence in himself before his great encounter on the road, none could have boasted more in their flesh than he. Having been humbled in the very presence of the Lord Christ, would he now readily submit to those he had looked down upon and persecuted?
The greatest test of our humility comes not in the presence of God, but in the presence of those like us. Pride is a blinding sin that has no place in the life of a true believer, and no greater test of our humility comes than when we are asked to submit to man as well as God. We see this same command in Acts 10, when Cornelius has an encounter with a servant angel, who commands him to send for Peter to hear further instruction. Even the great Moses took instruction from his father-in-law Jethro on how best to handle judgments among the people (Exo. 18).
I was blessed to experience this lesson myself; I was given a dream from the Lord shortly after my own encounter. Through this dream the Lord was telling me that I could trust my pastor, that I could submit to him and trust him to lead me. I had submitted to God, but was I willing to submit to man?
SUBMITTING to one another in the fear of God. (emphasis mine)
Ephesians 5:21
