So Ananias went and entered the house;
laying his hands on him, he said,
"Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me,
Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came,
that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes
and he regained his sight.
Acts of the Apostles 9:19-20
Of all six of my children, the oldest is the one who always looked after the others when they are ill or need bandaging when they were all younger. She took out their splinters and made their cuts were cleaned and bandaged properly, and now they are young adults, and she is the one they'll call when they don't feel well. When my youngest had the flu which was so terrible this past January, she and I consulted and made sure he received the doses of medicine at the proper times day and night. Physical healing has always come naturally to her, and no surprise to me, her career is in medicine.
Let's look at the importance of spiritual healing. In this passage, God asked Ananias to do what I would think to be impossible, and that is to go into the house of a murderer, and visit a man who had done such evil things to Ananias' people, his brothers and sisters in Christ! I can only imagine the courage it took to follow through with the words that Ananias so clearly heard from Jesus. Ananias layed hands on Saul of all people after he had imprisoned so many innocent people who only wanted to follow Christ! I wonder if Ananias was hesitant, felt afraid, or if he had that nervous energy that I feel when I step out of my "comfort zone" and follow through with what I hear as a message to help someone in need, or be support to someone who is suffering. Yet Ananias boldly stepped out in faith and layed hands on Saul who we know to be Paul. Ananias let the Holy Spirit work through him and we are the ones who continue to read letters from Paul which build our spiritual strength and allow us to more closely follow the way of Christ, even today. Let's pray that we can allow the Holy Spirit to move through us so that we can be witnesses of the hope and love, and that we can help to spiritually heal our brothers and sisters in Christ by praying, almsgiving, and taking the time to notice someone who may be in need of prayer, or material support.
