Articles
Do Not Grow Weary of Doing Good
Have you ever felt that the work you do doesn’t have an impact? If your answer is “Yes," you probably know what it's like to be an extra. Extras are those people in the backgrounds of movies we never notice because we are too busy looking at Leonardo Dicaprio or blinking. There is a person named Jesse Heiman who made a career out of being in the background in a wide variety of films, TV shows, and music videos. Due to that and his humble attitude, he’s changed a lot of people’s perspectives on the impact an “extra” can make. The world would like us to believe that if we can’t be the leads then we are not even worth being on camera. With God as the director of our lives, however, there is no such thing as a small role.
When the judges held authority over the Israelites, the people did not obey God and He gave them into the hand of Midia for seven years. When the people cried out and repented, He promised He would deliver them out of the hands of Midian. The man He chose to lead the Israelites to victory was Gideon. Judges 6:14-16 reads, “And the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?’ And he said to him, ‘Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.’” Eventually, Gideon raised an army of 300 men–per the Lord’s instructions–and because God was with them, they defeated an army of over 100,000.
Out of the whole New Testament, a disciple of God living in Damascus named Ananias is only mentioned twice. Both times comprise a few sentences of the apostle Paul’s conversion story. When God spoke to Ananias he replied, “Here I am, Lord.” He then asked Ananias to go to Straight Street in Damasus and find a man named Saul and lay his hands on him to restore his sight. Ananias told God of his hesitation to do as he was asked because Saul was known for committing evil against the Lord’s saints and he held the authority to do so in Damascus. God responded to Ananias’ concerns saying, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:15-16).
After hearing the Lord’s reassurance he accomplished His will.
Ananias is a smaller character compared to some of the bigger names of the New Testament. Thanks to His amazing faith and zealous trust in God, the role he played in the conversion of Saul impacted all the souls the apostle saved. My best friend senior year of high school was a girl named Jess Galley. Our graduating class had over 800 students, so if you didn’t know her personally, she would have just been another student in the hallway. After she passed, the church where her funeral was held couldn’t hold the amount of people who wanted to say goodbye to her. Her short life had a profound impact on so many lives because of her righteous attitude and good works. Some of which her friends and family didn’t even discover till after she passed. No matter what we may feel, our lives will always influence others. To encourage us as Christians, Galatians 6:9-10 says, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”
