A Forgotten Hero
So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
- Acts 9:17
A discovery every Christian eventually makes is who their real friends are. That is a discovery Saul of Tarsus made when he first became a follower of Christ. He had no real friends, but what he did have was a brother in Christ named Ananias. And in time, he would discover a whole new family.
Charles Swindoll, in his excellent book, Paul: A Man of Grace and Grit, writes, "Ananias has been called one of the forgotten heroes of the faith. Indeed he is. There are countless numbers of them serving Christ behind the scenes the world over."
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You see, with such men as Ananias doing their part, Saul could now do his. Acts 9:20–21 tells us, "And immediately [Saul] began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, 'He is indeed the Son of God!' All who heard him were amazed. . . ."
They couldn't believe that Saul of Tarsus was not only a believer, but now a preacher. And Saul quickly found out who his true friends and enemies were: "After a while some of the Jews plotted together to kill him" (verse 23).
God had been preparing Saul. Saul was ready for this job assignment. He was raised in a Roman city. He understood the thinking of the Roman mind. He was steeped in Greek culture, yet he was raised in a strict Jewish home. He was a powerful thinker and communicator. And now he was filled with the Holy Spirit. He was a force to be reckoned with.
Ananias had never preached any sermons that we know of. We don't know of any miracles that were performed through his hands. He never wrote an epistle. But he reached a man who did all of those things and much more. And if we had more Ananiases, we would have more Pauls.
