From Max Lucado’s Devotional God is With You Every Day:

Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.” . . . But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine.” (Acts 9:13, 15)

God’s chosen vessels aren’t always gleaming and golden. They may be tarnished or cracked, broken or even discarded. They may be a Saul, driven by anger, motivated to hurt. Saul was. Eager to root out and persecute the early Christians.

But God saw possibilities in Saul and sent Ananias to teach and minister to him. What will you do when God sends you to salvage one of his chosen vessels? What will you do when God shows you your Saul? The Saul that everyone else has written off.

“He’s too far gone.” “She’s too hard . . . too addicted . . . too old . . . too cold.” No one gives your Saul a prayer. But you are beginning to realize that maybe God is at work behind the scenes. You begin to believe.

Don’t resist these thoughts.

Of course, no one believed in people more than Jesus did. He saw something in Peter worth developing, in the adulterous woman worth forgiving, and in John worth harnessing.

Don’t give up on your Saul. When others write him off, give him another chance. Tell your Saul about Jesus, and pray. And remember this: God never sends you where he hasn’t already been. By the time you reach your Saul, who knows what you’ll find.

— Outlive Your Life