Don't Give Up

Please read Exodus 33-34, Psalm 16 and Acts 9 if you're interested in reading the Bible through in a year.

"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name." -Acts 9:13 (NIV)

For most of my father's adult life, he was a practicing alcoholic and not a Christian. I can remember that most of my childhood prayers centered around asking God to help my father stop drinking and start going to church. But nothing changed. I'm ashamed to admit that I reached a point when I seriously doubted that even God could affect change in my father's life. He had been doing what he was doing for too long, I concluded.

Through a series of events that are too many to list here, my dad had an encounter with Christ. He stopped drinking. He started going to church. He walked the aisle of Pulaski First United Methodist Church, confessed his sin, acknowledged his need for a Savior, and (thanks to Jim Beaty's invitation) I was there to baptize my father. Before he died, my father took part in all of the Disciple Bible Studies and my most treasured possessions of my father are these books where his notes reveal his first serious study of God's word.

I had my doubts about my dad ever being able to make these significant changes in his life. But my dad became one of the best examples that I've ever seen of what Christ can do in a person's life.

It sounds as if Ananias had some doubts about Saul being able to overcome his past. When Jesus called to Ananias in a vision and told him to go to Saul, Ananias pointed out that this Saul was a pretty shady character. He had brought harm to many believers. He was breathing out murderous threats to all believers. It's as if he was saying, "There's no use wasting time with this guy. Saul will never change."

But Jesus instructed Ananias to nevertheless go to Saul because Saul was an instrument of God to proclaim Christ to the people. Ananias went and did as Jesus commanded and Saul went on to become of the faith's best examples of what Christ can do.

Is there someone in your life that you've been praying for endlessly but have begun to wonder if transformation is possible? May God grant you the grace to not give up on that person. I'm not suggesting that God wants you to stay in a bad relationship or a bad situation. But what I am suggesting is that nothing is impossible for God. And the person you've been praying for most may be the next instrument that God intends to use to proclaim the good news of Jesus.