An Interruption and Change in Direction
Acts 9:4-5
Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” “Who are You, Lord?” he said. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.
Saul had never encountered Jesus. He only knew that those who followed Him were a threat and a nuisance to the teaching and traditions of the Jews. A respectable Pharisee himself, his passion for what he considered to be justice drove him to persecute any who followed Jesus and proclaim them as heretics and blasphemers. Faithful to his cause, he sought to destroy and even murder the disciples of Christ. He was faithful to his belief system and doing what he knew to be right, according to everything he had been taught all of his life. God saw a faithful servant in Saul and decided to convert him to use his passion to lead people to Christ. Thus, He sent Jesus – already risen from the dead and ascended to the throne of heaven – to speak directly to Saul and reveal Himself to him.
While Saul was trying to kill the spreading of the gospel, Jesus was trying to kill the lie within Saul by revealing the truth to him. The only way Saul would ever believe the gospel was through a real encounter with Jesus because those who gave testimony to Him had no credibility in Saul’s eyes. Jesus, however, knew just how to get his attention and transform him into a new creation and, perhaps, the most powerful witness of Himself this world has ever known. If Jesus could change Saul, He can change anyone or anything!
When things seem hopeless, or the cause of Christ is threatened in your life in some way, ask Jesus to reveal Himself. Sometimes even Christians become so passionate about furthering a particular cause that they lose sight of the main cause, which is Christ Himself. If all of us could take the passions that drive us and direct them to Christ and furthering His kingdom, we’d have heaven on earth instead of the chaos we see right now. Jesus may have to give us blinders to the world as He did for Paul in order for us to see Him in all His glory and understand for once just who He really is to us.
Saul received a change of direction when his plans were interrupted. If God has interrupted your plans, He is changing your direction, too. If everything seems dark and uncertain, follow Saul’s example and obey Jesus’s instructions. Take one step at a time, while fasting and praying. Let others God has placed around you lead you when you cannot see for yourself, and wait for what God has to say to you. An interruption and change in direction is well worth what it takes to get on the right path with God, but a personal revelation of Jesus Himself is priceless!
Have a blessed day!