Read: Acts 9:1-25
. . . lowering him in a basket. (v. 25)
Did the unnamed disciples of Saul (later called Paul) know how important the man in the basket was? Paul would go on three missionary journeys, spreading the gospel throughout much of modern-day Turkey and Greece, heading eventually to Rome and possibly to Spain. They couldn’t have known all that or that he would write nearly half the books in the New Testament! They only knew that people wanted to kill Saul, so they lowered him to safety in a basket.
Somewhere in Iran, there is a businessman I do not know who did something ordinary that bore extraordinary fruit. One day in the early 2000s, a young man named Oscar (not his real name) was fixing computers in that businessman’s shop. The man took Oscar out for lunch. When the food was served, the owner offered a prayer in Jesus’s name. It was the first time Oscar heard someone pray in Farsi, his mother tongue, instead of Arabic, the language of Islam. Hearing that prayer led Oscar on a journey to become a believer, grow in his faith, and serve Christ. Today, Oscar leads a team of 12 Iranians who share the gospel online in their home country and to Iranians around the world. Thousands of people have come to faith in Christ.
Oscar lost track of the man, but his simple act wove a basket that carried Oscar on a journey far beyond the moment. Look around you today, who will God have you put in your basket?
As you pray, ask God to open your eyes to someone around you.
Rev. Jon Opgenorth serves as president of Words of Hope. Previously, he served for 18 years as senior pastor at Trinity Reformed Church in Orange City, Iowa. In preparation for ministry, he received a BA in Religion from Northwestern College, and an MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary.
