What Wilt Thou Have Me To Do?

Look at Acts 9:6, we read, “And he trembling and astonished said, LORD, WHAT WILT THOU HAVE ME TO DO? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”

Paul asked WHAT GOD WOULD HAVE HIM TO DO, and the Lord told him, “…Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”

WHY DIDN’T GOD TELL HIM ON THE DAMASCUS ROAD WHAT TO DO? God reveals His will to us in portions for two reasons:

(1) BECAUSE SOMETIMES WE ARE NOT ABLE TO HANDLE THE TRUTH WHEN IT IS DUMPED ON US ALL AT ONCE.

If God had told Paul:

• You are going be rejected by your own people

• You are going to be beaten

• You are going to be jailed

• You are going to be called a madman

… it could have been more than he could have handled.

Illus: In one of Tom Cruise’s movies, he is acting as a military lawyer. He has a military man on the witness stand, grilling him hard.

• The military man says very loudly, “What do you want from me?”

• Tom Cruise said very loudly, “I want the truth!”

• The military man said very loudly, “You can not handle the truth!”

This is true, sometimes some things are best left unsaid because some people can not handle the whole truth.

Illus: At school, little Johnny was told by a classmate that most adults are hiding at least one dark secret, and that this makes it very easy to blackmail them by saying, "I know the whole truth."

• Little Johnny decides to go home and try it out. He goes home, and as he is greeted by his mother, he says, "I know the whole truth." His mother quickly hands him $20 and says, "Just don't tell your father."

• Quite pleased, the boy waits for his father to get home from work, and greets him with, "I know the whole truth." The father promptly hands him $40 and says, "Please don't say a word to your mother."

When we speak as Christians, we should always tell the truth, but sometimes it is best if some things are not said.

Illus: They say George Herbert Bush had hard feelings when he lost the presidency to Bill Clinton. Those hard feelings were expressed not in words, but on a train when Bill Clinton, George Herbert Bush, Janet Reno and Bo Derek were together. The train came to a dark tunnel and you could not see your hand in front of your face. When they went through the tunnel it was obvious someone had gotten slapped.

• Janet Reno, when she heard the slap, thought, “Bill tried to kiss Bo Derek and she slapped him.”

• Bill Clinton thought, “George Herbert Bush tried to kiss Bo Derek and she thought it was me and slapped me.”

• Bo Derek heard the slap and thought, “Bill Clinton tried to kiss me and made a mistake and kissed Janet Reno and she slapped him.”

• George Herbert Bush thought, “If we come to another dark tunnel, I am going to slap the devil out of Bill Clinton again!”

Sometimes some things do not need to be said, but when we do speak, we should always tell the truth.

Illus: When it comes to telling the whole truth, I think about the man on the witness stand.

• The judge said to him, “You seem to be in some distress, is anything the matter?'

• “Well, your Honor, I swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but every time I try, some lawyer objects.”

The Lord knows that some people can not handle the WHOLE TRUTH about what He has planned for them, so he reveals His will for them a little each day!

For example, the first thing He told Paul to do after his conversion was to, “…Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”

If Paul had not obeyed this small command, it would have been a complete waste of time to tell him the next thing He wanted him to do!

If we are not willing to obey the small things that God asks us to do, it certainly would be a waste of God’s time to tell us to do something BIG!

If Paul had not been willing to “Arise” and go into the city, he never would have known what God’s will for him was. God reveals His will for our life from day to day, because many times we could not handle it if we were told what we had to face.