Love the Unlovable
By Tammy Hopson
Mitchell County
He must have been a scary man. Maybe even the most feared man around. His reputation preceded him and it wasn’t a good one. He was known to be relentless and brutal as he pulled people from their homes and cast them into prison just for being a follower of Jesus. He rejoiced in the death of Christians. There is no doubt that Saul was a dangerous and unlovable man.
But Jesus loved him. And so He sent a man named Ananias on an errand. ‘Go help him, Ananias. He is waiting for you.’ Ananias loved the Lord and was willing to do anything for Him. But this? This man? Ananias knew he could be arrested and killed so naturally he questions his task. “(But) Lord, I have heard about this man and the harm he has done to your people.”
Jesus just replies “Go. I have chosen him.” Oh, how hard this must have been for Ananias after knowing all that Saul had done. But he goes anyway and when he finds Saul he reaches out to him in love and calls him brother! He prays for Saul and Saul’s life is changed. The Lord then completes the work He had for Saul. He is renamed to Paul and God used him to evangelize the world.
Nothing more is said about Ananias. Nowhere else in scripture do we see this man mentioned, but what a remarkable thing he did! He obeyed the Lord’s request and went and loved the unlovable! He was the tool the Lord used to answer the prayer of Saul.
Recently the Lord called me to do the same thing. God gave me the same errand. Oh, it wasn’t like the experience of Ananias. It was not life threatening at all but it was still hard. God put it on my heart to reach out to someone (in a very small way) who is usually abrasive and unkind. My task was to bring a small gift just as a random act of kindness. I had no idea how this person would receive it. They could decline it, be angry about it, or just not say anything at all. All of those reactions could certainly hurt my feelings. In my heart I questioned it. “But God? Why her?” In His gentle whisper, the Lord just answered back “Go”.
And so I took her a gift. To my surprise, she did not decline it! And her face lit up! There were no sharp words, no edginess but only a genuine thankfulness and a big smile. A softness came over her that I had not seen before. I was so surprised! Afterward, I could not stop thinking about her reaction. God’s message in my heart was so loud and clear. Love the unlovable. While my fleshly instinct is to avoid harsh people, God says “Go.” What a difference it can make to someone! What a tiny difference it made in her!
Through Ananias Saul’s prayers were answered and he went on to know the Lord and change the world. My small act of love will not change the world but it could lead someone to Jesus. Only God knows the reason why He sends us on those errands. Only He knows what the true outcome will be. But oh how wonderful it is to see the change it makes even for just a moment!
Let’s do this together! Let’s continue to love the unlovable for when we do we just might be the tool that God uses to answer the prayer of another. After the conversion of Saul, the scriptures say in Acts Chapter 9 that the church had peace and was strengthened, that it was encouraged by the Holy Spirit and it increased in numbers. I am sure today as I write this that the church of our generation will also be strengthened and increase if we too will love the unlovable.
Now that’s encouraging!
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Tammy Hopson has been a Mitchell County resident since 1992 and lives in Red Hill with her family. She is a mother of six children and grandmother of 14. She has been a member of Hoyle Memorial Christian Fellowship in Lawndale, NC since 1992 and helps lead The HMCF Youth Group.
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