The Road to Damascus

Acts  9:1-31

Funny this is a passage before yesterday's reading, but here we are reading it today. This section of passages is titled the travels of Paul.

There is a song about this passage that I liked since I first heard it; it is called The Voice of God, by 4Him.

It starts like this:
I have dreamed of being Moses
Standing on the mountain top
When he heard the voice of God
And I admit that even sometimes
I’ve imagined I was Paul on the road to Damascus
When he heard the Savior's call...

I think about what it would have been like to be in charge and in control with everything figured out...and then find that all of it was wrong. Hearing such an obvious call that changes EVERYTHING. What would that be like? I don't know, but Saul finds himself without sight, as in he can't see anything. He goes from being in charge to being led by the hand, dependent on someone else for everything.

The passage gives us poor Ananias who says (as we have heard others say before him) 'um God, are you sure? Do you know what you are asking me to do?'This Saul is really scary!' It does Ananias credit that he goes ahead and does what the Lord asks. Would I be that bold? I don't know that either. It is almost easier to have been Saul: he had no choice. Ananias has a choice and he makes the scary one. How each one of us have been blessed by Ananias' response. Again this shows us the benefit of one righteous man, who says yes to God.

I will look forward to reading the next few days as this new life for Saul unfolds before us. It is no wonder that the people are skeptical of this 'new and improved' Saul. But it also tells us something about the power of his conversion that he was able to convince others of the truth as it had been revealed to him. It also tells us something about the believers of that time. We just read about Stephen's being stoned to death, and about the regular plotting to have people killed, and yet they were willing to listen and to be informed by the Holy Spirit as things changed. We could all learn from these people. I could consider how to hear the prompting of the Holy Spirit, I could wait to see what God revealed, I could go into the scary places, even if I didn't want to, even if it might be the end of the world as I know it...with God's help I can.

See you tomorrow.
-maggie