In reading the passage in Acts 9 about the dramatic “conversion” of Paul, a memory popped into my mind as I thought not about Paul, but about Ananias….
It happened on a playground. The first time it happened, I wasn’t sure I heard correctly. The second time, I was pretty sure I heard. The third time, there was no doubt. “Hey, why you wanna pick on those little kids for? You’re better than that.” Seven year old Todd rolled his wheelchair up to the (much bigger) boy and gave his challenge. The response? A big shove, pushing his wheelchair back at least ten feet.
Just as I was getting ready to intervene, Todd held his hand up to stop me. He once again rolled closer to the larger boy, and I held my breath. “Don’t know what’s with you, big guy, but you’re better than that.” What? Now I recognized the big boy—Mikey. Known for picking on those much younger and smaller, he was the king of playground bullies at the school.
This time, Todd didn’t receive a shove back. Mikey leaned in close and chose a new tactic. He yelled in Todd’s face. “Who are YOU, anyway?” Now I had taken steps toward them, certain that Todd was about to get hurt. But Todd held up his hand once more. “I’m the one who’s gonna tell you—you’re MUCH better than all this…stuff you do. Much better.”
Something amazing happened that day. Mikey’s face changed. “You sure about that, little guy?” Todd nodded his ‘yes’. “So, how’d you get in that chair?” Todd took a deep breath. “See those monkey bars over there? Last year, some big boy yanked me off by my feet. Broke my back—bad. But you know what? He was better than that too.”
Mikey was converted that day on the playground. His life changed. Now he was the protector of smaller, younger children on the playground. Interesting thing, people noticed the big change in Mikey, but Todd would later say that his life was also changed forever on the playground that day as he answered the call to discipleship. When asked why he was so brave that day, his answer consistently remained, “God put me there to do it.”
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What about Ananias in this reading from the book of Acts? We are so used to focusing on Paul’s dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, that we sometimes miss the discipleship story of Ananias. Here we see a follower who grows closer and deeper in his life of discipleship as the Lord reaches and teaches him. Here we see Ananias challenge God’s call for him to heal the blind Paul…after all, God wants him to heal this man who leads in the persecution of fellow Christ-followers? But God reaches and teaches Ananias much as He seeks to reach and teach us every day.
So the next time you, like Ananias, feel led by God to reach out to someone and plant seeds of faith, think of Ananias, who followed God’s call with amazing results. He was the instrument through which sight was restored to Paul. He was the instrument through which Paul was “filled with the Holy Spirit”. God calls us to be such instruments. What is our answer? I pray that we, like Ananias, are led by Christ, that God reaches and teaches us more and more each day for the rest of our earthly lives until we reach heaven to hear His voice say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” Well done, indeed.
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Reflections
What examples of Ananias do you know of in your life?
How can we serve as instruments of grace like Ananias and Todd?
God calls us to be such instruments. What is our answer?
