From Persecutor to Proclaimer
Do you remember how you came to know Jesus? Do you remember who led you to know and receive Jesus? Who was the first person to pray for you and to help you to know Jesus?
As followers of Jesus, each of us have a testimony of how we came to know Jesus.
The Apostle Paul, formally Saul, came to know the risen Lord as he encountered him on the road to Damascus. God blinded Saul for three days and gave him a vision that a man named Ananias would come and lay hands on him in prayer.
God spoke to Ananias and asked him to lay hands on Saul and pray for him. The Book of Acts tells “There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ He answered, ‘Here I am, Lord.’” (Acts 9:10).
Ananias obeyed God and prayed for Saul and baptized him, even though he did not understand why God was asking him to do this, even when it seemed dangerous to do so, and even when it seemed far-fetched and out of the ordinary.
The Book of the Acts of the Apostles tells us, “Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened.” (Acts 9:17-19, ESV).
Without the obedience of Ananias, we would not have the Apostle Paul, who was God’s chosen instrument to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.
Because God chose ordinary Ananias and used him mightily and in this extraordinary way, we can trust that God uses each of us in our ordinary obedience to do extraordinary kingdom work in the world as well.
Like Ananias, may we obey God’s call and do his kingdom work in the world, even when we do not understand it, when it seems dangerous, or when it seems far-fetched or out of the ordinary, knowing God’s will, God’s purposes, and God’s plans are always perfect.
A Collect for Saint Peter and Saint Paul, June 29: “Almighty God, whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul glorified you by their martyrdom: Grant that your Church, instructed by their teaching and example, and knit together in unity by your Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).
Jean II Restout, “Ananias Restoring the Sight of St. Paul,” 1719 (Photo: Public Domain)
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