‘Squeak! Squeal!’ It was Susy whose tail had just been pulled by her brother. Feeling very annoyed, she turned to him and tried to nip his tail, but he was too quick, and flew up into the air laughing and chattering. Susy flapped her wings and sped off after him twittering and squealing.
Until then, they had been enjoying watching their Mum and Dad flying gracefully across the sky, swooping up and down as they darted here and there.
‘I’m glad I’m a Swallow, aren’t you?’ Susy had asked her brother Simmy as they sat there. But Simmy was getting bored by now just sitting on a barn roof so he shrugged his shoulders and said ‘Don’t know - never been anything else!’ then he had leaned over and tweaked her tail.
Mum and Dad looked at each other as they heard the children chattering and squealing at each other as Simmy streaked across the sky, closely followed by his sister.
‘I suppose we had better find out what that is all about’ sighed Mum.
‘I shouldn’t bother’ Dad answered. ‘They will be the best of friends again in a moment.’
And sure enough, as they watched, they saw that something had caught the attention of Simmy who shouted ‘Look! Susy, I wonder what is happening down there?’
‘Where?’ she asked breathlessly as she caught up with her brother.
‘Down below’ he said. ‘I wonder what all those men are doing?’
‘Just resting, and having a drink’ Susy replied. ‘What is strange about that?’
‘They look important to me’ insisted Simmy. ‘And that one, standing by himself and looking at some papers appears to be their leader.’
‘Really Simmy’ laughed Susy. ‘What an imagination you have.’
They continued looking at the men and wondering until Mum";s voice called ";Time for lunch.";
‘Oh, Mum, I’m not hungry’ protested Simmy as he flew in the door. ‘I’d rather watch the men.’
Mum was surprised. ‘Not hungry Simmy?’ she asked.
‘He thinks there is something S t r a n g e!! about those men down there’ Susy teased.
Mum looked out of the barn window. ‘They seem perfectly all right to me’ she said. ‘Now eat up, both of you.’
Simmy was about to argue when Dad flew in and joined them. ‘What is this discussion all about?’ he asked.
‘It’s Simmy’ repeated Susy. ‘He thinks that man down there is acting strangely’ and she giggled.
‘Well, just look at him, Dad’ said Simmy. ‘See how he is not with the others, and he looks so angry.’
Dad looked, and, sure enough, whilst the rest of the men were sitting resting and eating their lunch, this particular man was pacing up and down reading some papers and muttering to himself.
‘I agree with you, Simmy’ said Dad. ‘He IS acting very strangely.’
‘Are you going to fly down to hear what he is saying?’ asked Simmy excitedly. ‘And can I come with you?’
‘NO!’ interrupted Mum. ‘It’s lunch time, the men down there are eating and that’s what we should be doing.’
Simmy was not pleased and he frowned.
‘Cheer up, Simmy’ said his Dad. ‘You eat your lunch, and I’ll see what I can find out. It wont take a moment’ he added as he looked at his wife and, with his eyes twinkling merrily, he smiled at them all and flew down towards the angry man. He loved an adventure as much as Simmy, and this one looked very interesting!
‘Rest yourself, and have something to eat’ he heard the others calling as he flew nearer. But the angry man took no notice.
Dad flew very close, just a little above and behind the man, and he clearly heard him say - ‘I’ll get them. I will! Every last one of them.’
‘Oh dear’ thought Dad. ‘Not a nice man at all’ and, as the man pushed the papers angrily back into the pouch he was carrying, Dad rose into the air and flew swiftly back towards his family.
‘Well?’ asked Simmy. ‘Was I right?’
‘You were indeed’ Dad answered.
Simmy made a face at Susy. ‘See!’ he said. ‘Who was right then?’
‘You were!’ agreed Susy, an astonished look on her face. ‘What was he saying Dad? Did you manage to hear him?’ she asked.
‘Oh yes’ chuckled Dad as Mum placed his lunch on the table. ‘He seems to be on his way to catch someone, or rather, a lot of people as I heard him say he was going to catch every one of them.’
‘Criminals!’ shouted Simmy, his face bright with excitement. He was thoroughly enjoying what he looked upon as ‘His’ adventure.
‘Can we follow him Dad?’ he asked as he gobbled his food, eager to be off right then.
‘Simmy! Where are your manners?’ remonstrated Mum. ‘Eat properly, and if there is going to be a fight between those men and a gang of criminals I don’t want you going anywhere near them.’
‘Oh, Mum! We can easily fly out of their way, you know how swift we Swallows are - and I’ll stay close to Dad’ he added mischievously knowing his Dad was as keen as he to know what was going on!
Dad and Simmy smiled at each other.
Mum sighed. She knew she had lost, but if Dad was going she also knew they would be safe.
‘I’m coming too’ insisted Susy.
Simmy frowned. ‘You will only be in the way if there is going to be a fight’ he argued. ‘And in any case a fight is no place for a girl!’
‘I’m coming’ said Susy. ‘And that’s that!’ And she pushed her plate away. ‘I’m ready now’ she announced, and she looked defiantly at her brother.
‘All right’ Dad said gently. ‘But you must both promise to do exactly as I tell you’ and he looked at them both, his eyebrows raised questioningly.
‘We will, we promise’ they assured him.
Dad laughed. ‘Well, what are we waiting for?’ he asked, and with a quick “Good-bye” to Mum they swooped out of the barn.
As they reached the men they found they had also finished lunch and were busily re-packing the bags on their horses.
‘Where do you think they are going, Dad?’ whispered Susy.
‘It can only be Damascus’ Dad answered. ‘They have only a few more miles to go.’
‘Listen!’ cried Simmy. ‘What are they saying now?’
They flew nearer, and rested on a small tree near to where the men where talking.
‘And are we not going back to Jerusalem until we have caught every one?’ they were asking in dismay.
The angry man glared at them.
‘All right, Saul. All right’ said one man wearily. ‘You have a good record for catching the Believers, but ......’
‘And I shan’t rest until I have every one of them in prison’ Saul interrupted angrily.
Simmy looked at his Dad, shock and disbelief written all over his face.
‘Oh, Dad’ he said. ‘We must stop them. They are hurting the Believers. I thought it was going to be great fun this afternoon, but it isn’t, is it?’
Dad sighed. ‘No, Son, I’m afraid it isn’t.’
‘What can we do, Dad?’ asked Susy, tears filling her eyes as she thought of all those who loved Jesus being thrown into prison.
‘Saul is a very powerful man’ Dad told them. ‘Perhaps God will show him how wrong he is in a very powerful way.’
AND HOW RIGHT HE WAS - as they found out later.
‘Oh, that would be wonderful’ cried Susy beginning to feel a little better. ‘Come on, let’s follow them, they are starting to move.’
Dad, Susy and Simmy flew up into the air and darted and swooped, and darted and swooped, each one busy with their own thoughts.
‘Father, show Saul that Jesus is truly your own dear Son’ prayed Dad.
‘I do hope God our Father will speak to Saul in the powerful way Dad thinks He may’ thought Susy. ‘And I hope we are there to see it.’
‘I was looking forward to a good sword fight, and seeing lots of criminals being captured’ thought Simmy. ‘But it’s all spoilt now. I don’t want to see Jesus’ followers being captured and thrown into prison.’ He sighed, and it was a very sad family of Swallows who followed Saul and his men. They had no idea, of course, of what God, their Heavenly Father, had planned!!
So they flew quietly on - AND THEN IT HAPPENED!!
They were almost at the entrance of the City - they could see the gates quite clearly when FLASH!
The brightest light they had ever seen shone on them all. Brighter than the Sun!
The men, including Saul, almost fell off their horses.
Saul knelt on the ground; the men didn’t know what to do, or what was happening - they were scared.
Then a Voice was heard:-
“Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting Me?”
Saul thought deep in his heart that he knew Who was speaking, but he had to be sure, so he asked:- “Who are you Lord?”
Then came the answer Saul had been dreading to hear:-
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting”
‘No! No!’ thought Saul. ‘Don’t tell me I have been wrong all this time’ and he groaned. He felt dreadful!
‘The Believers are right. Jesus IS God’s Son, and here have I been hurting them.’
He knelt there in great sorrow, but then a gentle peace seemed to come over him as if Jesus had seen how sorry he was, and forgiven him for not understanding.
“Get up” came the quiet Voice of Jesus. “Go into the City” He said tenderly, ‘And you will be told what to do when you get there.”
Happiness flowed over and around Saul as he whispered ‘Oh, Lord forgive me please. I understand now.’
All this time the men who were with Saul had been looking fearfully around to see who was speaking. They couldn’t see anyone!
Dad, Simmy and Susy, who had flown down and rested on the backs of the horses when the Flash! came, now flew up into the air laughing and chattering and squealing.
‘It was Jesus. It was Jesus’ they cried. But the men below didn’t understand them. Instead, they were helping Saul to his feet - and they saw that he was blind!
Carefully they took Saul by his hand and led him into the City, the Swallows following.
‘Will he always be blind?’ Susy asked Dad sadly.
‘Somehow I don’t think so’ he answered. ‘I think God must have a Very Special Work for him to do seeing He showed him the Truth in this Very Special Way - don’t you?’
‘Yes’ the children agreed. ‘Definitely!’
‘Shall we go home now, and tell Mum all about our Adventure?’ asked Susy.
‘No! We must follow the men to see where they are taking Saul. Isn’t that right, Dad?’ asked Simmy.
‘That’s a good idea’ agreed Dad. ‘Then we can visit him tomorrow.’
And this is what they did.
They flew behind the men until they came to a street called “Straight Street.”
‘Remember that name’ called Dad. ‘And take note of the house.’
So they watched carefully as the men knocked on a door about half-way down the street.
‘Hello Judas’ they heard one of the men say. ‘May we come in?’
‘Of course, you are all welcome’ Judas replied as he opened the door wide for them to enter.
‘That’s it then’ said Dad. ‘Time to go home.’
‘May we really come again tomorrow?’ asked Susy.
‘Of course, we want to see what happens next don’t we?’ Dad smiled.
They certainly did!
‘If you are going to have an Adventure, then you may as well see it right through to the end’ said Simmy merrily as they all flew up into the sunshine.
‘What an amazing Heavenly Father we have’ thought Susy as they flew homewards - and the others were thinking Exactly The Same!
Elizabeth Aynsley ©
Acts Ch. 9 vs. 1 - 9.