One of my eldest daughter’s favorite books is one by Dr.
Seuss titled because a little bug went ka-choo. It goes through an entire
plethora of unfortunate events that took place, all because, you guessed it, a
little bug went ka-choo. There was a cascading effect, a ripple that grew
bigger and bigger, and yes, more absurd, but it’s a fun read, and we always
have a chuckle, especially when it comes to mimicking the sneeze that set all
the events in motion.
In and of itself, the bug’s sneeze was insignificant. When
you see the aftereffects it had, you realize that one small thing can set off a
chain reaction concluding in something heretofore unimagined.
This past Sunday, I was asked to teach the Bible study class
in the church I was attending, as well as give the sermon for the main service
later that morning. I had spoken in this church before, and the pastor had made
the same request, but time has a way of blurring our memories, so here I was,
wholly unprepared to teach a class.
Thankfully, I’d woken up early that morning and had read my
Bible diligently, and remembered something that had stood out. At first glance,
it might have been a small thing, but I realized it could be fleshed out to
actually deliver some wisdom to those who had arrived an hour early to be fed
from the Word.
I realized this was not coincidental, because I don’t believe
in coincidence, so I went to the book of Acts, and began to teach from the
passage where the Lord spoke to Ananias, a man wholly unremarkable save for the
fact that he was a disciple, and had cemented his relationship with God to the
point of learning to hear His voice and identify it as such.
Shortly after Saul of Tarsus was blinded by the light on the
road to Damascus, the Lord spoke to Ananias to go to the street called
Straight, and inquire of Saul at the house of Judas. By this time, Saul had
garnered a well-deserved reputation for hunting believers, and Ananias
attempted to point this out to God, even though God already knew who he had
been.
Then God said something to Ananias that highlighted just how
significant this seemingly insignificant servant was to the plan of God: “Go
for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and
the children of Israel.”
Here was a man of no renown, a man who was a simple disciple,
who was being asked to go and lay hands on whom he knew was the enemy of God’s
people so that the plan of God might be fulfilled, and His name be preached to
Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel alike.
Not only did Ananias’s obedience facilitate Paul’s ministry
of preaching God to Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel, it also
allowed for the writing of 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament.
So what’s the point of this writing? To put it simply,
insignificant as we might consider ourselves to be in the great scheme of
things, we are not. For a body to function properly, every body part must
perform its function. You might think yourself irrelevant, insignificant, able
to do nothing more than pray for your neighbor’s salvation or give a cup of
water to a thirsty traveler, but it’s not about the act itself; it’s never
about the act. First, it’s about the obedience, and second, it’s about the
chain of events that act of obedience might set off in someone’s life.
What if Ananias hadn’t gone to seek Saul out? What if he’d
never entered the house of Judas and laid hands on him?
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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