Circle of People

As I read Acts 9 this morning, I thought about the circle of people it took to accomplish God’s plan. If any one person had said “No,” the plan would have fallen apart!

Jesus had appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus and he was blind for three days. God told Ananias to go pray over him. Now Ananias was reluctant.  He’d heard the stories of how Saul was hauling Christians to jail! God had already told Saul that Ananias was coming to pray for him. Ananias could have refused and the whole plan would have fallen apart…but he went. 

Saul was changed! He went to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, but they were afraid of him. But Barnabas received him and brought him to the apostles to tell his story and he was accepted. If Barnabas hadn’t received Saul, how different this story would be!

Saul was speaking boldly about Jesus and disputing the Hellenists, who wanted to kill him. So the brethren sent him to Tarsus. The whole story changes at this point—Saul begins his missionary journey. And those brethren were a part of God’s plan to send Saul out. 

If any person in the story had refused to obey God, the story would be different. God would have raised someone else up, for sure. But everyone had a part—even a small part—to play. And it all fit together to tell the story of Jesus. 

It just makes me wonder what part you and I are playing. Have we said “No?” Is God raising someone else up? Or are we a small part of a much bigger story?  The story of Jesus.