By: Rex Stump
Wauseon, Ohio
“Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there.
He wanted to bring them, both men and women, back to Jerusalem in chains. As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him” (Acts 3:1-3).
Take a second and reread from Acts 3! Let a few things soak in. First, Saul was livid and determined to wipe out anyone who followed Jesus! Uttering threats with every breath!
A normal resting breathing rate for a healthy adult is 12 to 20 breaths per minute, so on the low end of an average day, Paul emitted 17,280 threats, packed with emotion and eagerness to kill!
That’s worse than the “Mature”-rated movies whose foul-mouthed villains do nothing but kill for fun. With a sachet of letters, armed to arrest and torture the followers of Jesus, he was on a mission to Damascus!
On that worthless, evil mission, God blinded Saul! He was brought to his knees! A stunning light from heaven bright enough to knock him down.
One question from Saul, “Who are you?” The response? “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
At the core of every true relationship with Jesus Christ, we must know who He is and give ourselves to doing His will. At some point in our lives, while we were blindly chasing after the wrong thing, we were brought to our knees.
It is here where we must blindly go in the direction He tells us to go, not knowing fully what we are to do, but willing to do what He commands!
When my boys were little, I would get pelted with “Why dad?” questions all the time. Sometimes the answer was, “Because I said so, just do it what I asked.”
Just like a child, thinking we need to know everything, we ask God for answers, when we simply need to be faithful in doing the one thing we know to do right now.
In obedience he got up and was led by the hand to Damascus. In Damascus he met Ananias, whom God sent to Saul.
“So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (9:17).
From killer to kindness, sinner to saint, darkness to light, Saul…later Paul also went from persecutor to persecuted. He was changed thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit! So are you!
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
I heard someone say, “Was Saul given more of the Holy Spirit than we were? Either He fills us, or He doesn’t.” If the Holy Spirit resides in you, you are a changed person. If not, you are still living in darkness. Are you or are you not a changed person?
“Stay strong, stay focused…stay faithful!”
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Rex Stump is the Area Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and serves as a Pastor at True North Church in Wauseon, Ohio.