Acts 9:1-22
Verse 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”
We’re doing another time hop, skipping the rest of Jesus’ earthly life. While there were many things God did through Jesus and His ministry we are not going to focus on them as they seem to be obvious things which were making God look big while He worked out the tiniest details. We are going to pick up with God’s call to Paul, known in this passage by his former name of Saul. We meet Paul in Acts 7 as he watched the coats of those who stoned Stephen.
Paul was a zealous Jewish man who had learned under one of the most prestigious teachers in Jerusalem. Though Jewish, he was born outside the land of Israel and so was Roman by birth. In a time where the Romans were put up with but not wanted, a Jewish young man comes to town who holds both titles. Maybe it was the fact that he was Roman by birth that he became so adamant about Jewish traditions. No matter the reason we know that he was not willing to believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah.
God had plans for this man and even though Paul hadn’t been able to see it at the time there was a very special reason that God made him a Jewish Roman. The fact that God called Paul while he was on his way to persecute believers was God proving He knew the man and how it was going to take a large event to snap Paul’s attention into focus.
By blinding the man and making him be led to the city he was hoping to take by storm, shows God understood Paul’s proud nature. There is nothing like a few days of not being able to do things for yourself to teach us that we need others and ultimately God. We have to remember that Paul did believe in God and was a devout follower and so when he is blind those three days we know he was praying for answers. Little did he know the answer came in his learning the truth about Jesus being the long-awaited Messiah.
God showed up in a big way in Paul’s life because He had great things He wanted to do through him. When Paul surrendered to God and His will, Paul wasted no time going out and preaching Jesus as the Messiah among the very people he had come to arrest because of their belief in Jesus being the Messiah. God was working in every detail of Paul’s life to do big things for the kingdom.
Making It Personal
When has God done something big to get your attention? How did you respond? Who is God wanting you to share the truth of Jesus with today?
Making It Personal Kids
Have you ever been wowed by something God did? Why did it wow you that He did that? Who can you share with about how He wowed you?
Closing Prayer
Father, it is so easy to get caught up in how we think our life should go but You have created us with multiple details which make us exactly who we need to be to make You known. Help us surrender to all the things You want to do in our lives and to share You boldly. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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