Extremely Ordinary

His name was Ananias. He was the guy in Acts 9 that God sent to pray for blind Saul. At first he was hesitant to obey. Why would he go and see someone who was notorious for dragging Christians to prison? He was just an ordinary disciple in Damascus who happened to be there when God was looking for someone to turn the tides of world history.

He debated with God for a while but eventually gave in. He went ahead and prayed a miraculous healing for Saul. We never heard from Ananias again because he simply faded into the background. But the person he prayed for became the greatest missionary of all time, the apostle who brought the gospel to the Gentile world.

Ananias didn’t know that Saul would go on to face the greatest politicians and philosophers of his time, introduce Christianity to the world and forever alter the course of world history. He didn’t know that Paul would go on to write most of the New Testament, the very books that became the basis of Western philosophy and religion. He didn’t know much. He simply obeyed and his obedience made his extremely ordinary life yield extraordinary results.

Praise God for ordinary lives.