I was so excited the day I got it. Looking back, it wasn’t much to look at, but I thought it was beautiful and I just knew it was going to change my life.
It was black and boxy with silver accents. A decal on the front touted its features. It boasted a mind-blowing 3.2 megapixel resolution, 3x digital zoom, 1.5” color LCD display, and 8 megabytes of internal memory. It might not sound like much, but for me it was a whole new world. I was the first one in my family to own my very own digital camera. It was a huge step up from the disposal cameras I was used to using and I was immediately obsessed.
I popped in four AAA batteries and went to work. At first, I took it with me just about everywhere. I walked around the neighborhood, camera dangling from my wrist. I went on bike rides, stopping to snap pictures of road signs, plants, animals, big houses, anything that stuck out to me. I even brought the camera with me on short car rides to and from the church or the store so I could take oddly distorted photos from the windows of the moving vehicle.
I took a staggering number of mediocre pictures in an incredibly short time. I still have lots of them – there are pictures of my family members making faces, badly-focused pictures of plants – the usual fare. I experimented with angle, lighting, focus and every once in a while, in that sea of mediocrity, there’s a picture that looks decent.
It wasn’t long before my older brother also bought a digital camera. His was a Kodak, and it was nicer than my Polaroid. It actually had optical zoom. He started taking pictures too. His were better, obviously, but it was still fun so I kept snapping.
This was a digital camera and I had rechargeable batteries, so I could take as many pictures as I wanted. And I wanted to take a lot of pictures.
One day, we were at home looking at pictures, my brother and I. We were reviewing our handiwork and showing it off to the family. I don’t remember what the pictures were of and I’m guessing they weren’t really much to look at, but as we perused them, pointing out what we considered our best work, I remember my dad saying something to me. I don’t remember his exact words, but it was something like, “You know, you really have an eye for this.”
I thought he was confused. He must be getting mixed up – thinking my brother’s pictures were mine. Clearly he was the more skilled photographer. I tried to correct him, but my dad insisted. I might not remember the words, but the tenor of that comment has stuck with me ever since.
I recently asked my dad about it. He doesn’t remember the conversation, but he told me that he recalls, “The character of your photos was different. It was richer and more revealing of the subject matter you were focused on. Certainly it was more so than what I would have considered common for someone of your age or ability.”
If he had said those words to me at the time, they would have gone right over my head. But he just said I had an eye for it, and that simple observation sparked something in me. He inspired in me a confidence that led to more.
Not long after, I bought my own Kodak camera. This one was nicer than my brother’s. A couple years later, I bought a real DSLR camera – you know the ones with detachable lenses. About a year after that, I started experimenting with photo editing software and stumbled into the world of graphic design.
I started playing around with photo overlay techniques and fonts and I’ve dabbled in graphics ever since. I’m certainly not a professional photographer or designer and these days neither photography nor graphic design has been my creative medium of choice, but ever since that first digital camera I have continued to pursue creative outlets. Most recently, I have tried my hand at writing, video editing… and podcast production.
I don’t know how many thousands of pictures I have taken since I took that boxy little camera out of its plastic case, but through those years I have discovered a deep love for creative arts. No one can ever trace all the winding paths of his life but I attribute the spark that led to that love to one simple comment:
“You know, you really have an eye for this”.
It’s impossible to know for sure what Saul was feeling as he sat, blind, in the house of a man named Judas. Saul’s life had just been transformed. His incredible conversion experience on his way into the city of Damascus is legendary. Saul was now a follower of Jesus.
His heart must have swelled with emotion. He experienced hope and joy at his newfound faith and great anticipation as he awaited further instructions from his new Savior. But maybe he also experienced misgivings, even sorrow at a feeling of loss.
Saul had long been part of an intimate community. Raised as a Jew, he had been accepted, even revered, by the most elite members of a close-knit religious group. The Jewish religious community was, in many ways, like a big family. Saul had been on an errand of zeal for his religion, targeting the followers of Jesus for persecution, when he had met Jesus face to face.
Saul was now a Christian. He had gained a Savior, but he had lost a family. Having Jesus is far greater than any family. But followers of Christ who have had to give up relationships for their faith know that, though Jesus is more than enough, that separation still holds quite a sting. Saul would have been aware that he, who had been the Jews’ golden boy, was on the cusp of becoming among their most wanted. He would soon be ostracized and targeted by those he had long called his friends and brothers.
Saul was well aware that there was a thriving community among those who followed Jesus. This Christian family would be his new family, right? But Saul had been targeting the Christians, getting them arrested and punished. He had even overseen their execution. How could he expect them to suddenly welcome him with open arms?
Saul knew that turning to Christ was the right decision to make… but what lay ahead?
Was Saul destined to spend the rest of his life blind and alone? Is it too dramatic to suggest that he wondered how long that life would even last?
As Saul sat in the dark with his thoughts, God, in His grace, gave Saul a vision. In the vision, a man named Ananias came in and, as a result of that visit, Saul’s sight was restored. After Saul had been three days in Judas’ house, true to the heavenly vision, Ananias arrived. As he stepped in, he said,
“Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 9:17)
Imagine the thrill of sight after three days of blindness! Scripture says that it was like scales fell from Saul’s eyes. He could see again!
But as Saul looked into the eyes of this fellow Christian, I think that he found a gift greater than restored sight. Those two words Ananias had first spoken when he greeted Saul were like cold water to his thirsty soul.
“Brother Saul”.
Saul did indeed have a new family. Yes, there would be bumps along the way and some Christians would be slow to trust their former enemy, but Saul would truly come to taste the sweetness of Christian fellowship. The help of his fellow believers would be vital in the coming days as he endured persecution at the hands of his former brothers, the Jews.
Ananias did seemingly little in the grand scheme of things, but his few words to a young believer provided God-ordained encouragement at just the right time to a man who would go on to change the world for Christ.
Those words held great power. It is impossible to measure the influence of a well-placed word of encouragement. As Proverbs 25:11 colorfully expresses, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”
What is it that can make such simple words so powerful?
When my dad complimented my photography, I knew he meant those words. His encouragement was genuine, but if was also specific. He didn’t simply say “good job” or “nice pictures”. It was the combination of sincerity and specificity that really made his words meaningful. So it was with Ananias and Saul.
Often, life-changing words are not shared in the context of an elaborate speech. They are often simple words, not prepared, simply shared one-on-one in the moment. But God sometimes brings one person across another’s path for a specific purpose at a specific time. What may seem like a simple, unremarkable statement may be deeply meaningful to the one listening. Even just a simple greeting can serve to be a source of deep, lasting encouragement.
Last episode, we looked at Bowen and Vernig and reflected on the power of censorious words. Criticism has great power, but so does encouragement. As Solomon so masterfully put it, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” (Proverbs 18:21)
Only God knows when the moment may come for your words to be the spark in someone else’s life that lights a fire that never goes out. Might you say something today that will impact someone’s life for years to come?
Who knows how far your words will go?
Exempla 