Spirituality in the Workplace:
Finding God's Will -- Acts 9:1-20
|
RELATIONAL BIBLE
STUDY
to model how a relational study
is done and provide questions
relating text to the FAW theme
for individual or group use.
|
It is impossible to spend several months in close study of the Acts of the
Apostles, without being profoundly stirred and, to be honest, disturbed. No
one can read this book without being convinced that there is Someone at work
besides mere human beings. It is a matter of sober historical fact that never
before has any small body of ordinary people so moved the world that their
enemies could say, with tears of rage in their eyes, that these people
"have turned the world upside down! (17:6).
This translator's preface by J. B. Phillips in his book The Young Church
in Action caught my attention years ago and still does. Ordinary people
doing extraordinary things!
Read the text of this amazing conversion. Hear the story as told by Paul in
chapter 21:35-22:21.
Read the story again and this time focus on Ananias and his role and how it came
about. Use your imagination to visualize the scenes described.
- What stands out to you?
- How do you see Saul? What is his question? vs.5.
- What is Ananias doing? What is his response? vs.10.
II. REFLECT.
To me, Ananias is clearly the hero in this story. An ordinary person having his
prayer time, perhaps getting ready to go to his place of work, has a vision!
Imagine the courage it must have taken for him to go, terrified, to see Saul! He
admits his reluctance but go he did.
- What might Ananias have been thinking or praying when his vision occurred?
Note the change in his description of Saul from "this man" to
"brother." What was Saul's condition when Ananias comes to visit? How
had his encounter with God left him? What gives him sight and the assurance of
forgiveness?
- Write a conversation between Saul and Ananias, as it might have occurred.
Fill in between the lines as you reflect on the scene.
III. CONNECT.
Saul's meeting with God had left him blind, helpless and confused. Read the
story of Stephen in Acts
7:54-8:la to discover what Saul might have been thinking about on the
Damascus road. He needed another perspective to understand God's love. Ananias
provided it.
The early Christians are called two names in this story, "followers of
the Way" and "saints" (Vss.2 and 13).
- What do you think of this description?
- Who are people in your own life who fit these names?
- Who has clarified your encounter with God? Who has laid hands on you and
called you "brother" or "sister"?
IV. ACT.
"Discernment is another word for describing what we are talking about. When
we speak of discerning God, we really mean we are listening for, as well as to,
God. When our stories meet God's own, the relationship includes both presence
and absence. Listening for God and participating more fully in Gods
life-- requires the cultivation of our intuitive sense that Gods Spirit moves
in, around and through all things. Let us pray we are able to discern Gods will,
even in the seemingly silent spaces." (Forward Movement, 1996)
We must find God before we can find Gods will. Saul found faith in the Risen
Christ through the outreach of Ananias. Ananias found guidance through prayer
and obedience. Ananias might have been going over all the terrible things Saul
had done and grieving over the death of Stephen. And yet in holding his concerns
up to God, Ananias found an amazing way to share Gods love! As we pray for Gods
will in our lives we may find an idea, a picture, a luminous thought that seems
to come from nowhere. (Isaiah
30:21). Action is the next step.
- What about your workplace? Are there people and situations that need your
prayers or some action?
- What blocks you from being a bearer of Gods love in ordinary places?
SUGGESTED READING:
Interpretation, Acts William H. Willimon, John Knox Press, 1988.
Wind and Fire, Living out the Book of Acts, Bruce Larson, Word 1984.
Servanthood, Bennett J. Sims, Cowley, 1997
Nancy Boyle is a workshop leader, teacher and Christian Education
Consultant living in Columbia SC.
Faith @ Work magazine is a ministry of Faith At Work,
Inc.
Duplication of articles is permissible, provided credit
is given to the author and Faith At Work.
Contact Faith At Work on the web: www.FaithAtWork.com
or by phone: 800-245-7378 or 703-237-3426.
Faith at Work™ and Faith@Work™ are registered trademarks of Faith at Work,
Inc.