The Unsung Hero · Acts 9

This past weekend I preached at House of Prayer in Arlington — the family they call HOPE. Dr. Simon Olatunji invited me. He gave me a series called The Unsung Hero and a text from Acts 9. The man at the center is one most of us read straight past.

We know Paul. The apostle. The man whose letters still shape how we follow Jesus.

But before Paul wrote a word of Scripture, God sent a quiet disciple named Ananias into a room to lay hands on a blind man and call him brother.

The blind man had been hunting Christians. His name was Saul. Ananias knew exactly who he was.

The Lord told him to go. Ananias did not pretend to be brave. Lord, I have heard about this man and the harm he has done to your people. God did not scold the fear. He said, Go.

So he went.

He walked into the house. He laid his hands on the man the whole church feared. The first word out of his mouth was brother.

Brother Saul. I am not making that up. It is in the text.

Not enemy. Not threat. Not the man who had dragged believers from their homes. Brother. The gospel had already reconciled Ananias before Saul could see.

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That room runs against almost everything we are trained to want. We chase the platform. The title. The credit we can measure. We rank people by who gets seen.

The kingdom has never worked that way. Ananias shows up for a few verses and then he is gone. No book. No statue. No following. And without him, the story of the church reads completely differently.

The pattern is everywhere once you look.

The parent raising children who will outlive them. The believer who prays and sets up the chairs and never stands on a stage. The soldier who keeps the convoy rolling, whose name never makes the after-action report, and without whom the mission fails.

“ Hidden obedience is never hidden from heaven. Exponential Purpose · Acts 9

Be careful here. A message like this curdles easily. The point is not try harder, be braver, be more like Ananias. That is self-improvement with a verse stapled on.

The point is Jesus.

Jesus confronts Saul on the road. Jesus speaks to Ananias. Jesus sends him. Jesus opens the blind eyes through his hands. Jesus fills him with the Spirit. Jesus receives the enemy into His family.

Ananias obeyed. Jesus saved. Ananias laid his hands on a blind man. Jesus opened his eyes.

That order is the whole gospel. We do not earn our place by being useful. We are loved first. Faithfulness before fruitfulness.

Most of us will never be Paul. But almost all of us can be an Ananias to someone. Walk into the room. Say the word that welcomes them home.

God may use your private yes to unlock someone else’s public calling.

You may be unknown to history. You are not unknown to God.

The invitation is not to become famous. It is to become faithful.

This week, look for the quiet assignment. The one with no audience. The conversation, the prayer, the act of service no one will applaud. Do it as unto the Lord, who sees what the world overlooks.

And if a hidden servant comes to mind, tell them. Be the one who calls them brother or sister before anyone else does.

Grateful to walk this road with you,

Joshua

Forward this Send this to an unsung servant. Be the one who calls them brother or sister before anyone else does.

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Reply with your quiet yes

P.S. Reply and tell me where God is asking you for a quiet yes this week. And if this letter helped you, forward it to the unsung servant who came to mind while you read.