Doin' the One-eighty

Last week I wrote about choices.  Sometimes we make them after a lot of prayer and thought and other times they are thrust upon us.  I’m thinking about the conversion of Saul, and his ensuing encounter with Ananias.

Everyone remembers Saul.  He passionately hates Christians. He even has permission to round them up to kill them. In fact, he's on his way to Damascus to do exactly that, when Jesus Himself appears to Saul in a flash of light so bright it literally blinds him.  He tells Saul, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." Saul tries to see, but fades to black, thinking, "Uh oh."  Talk about drama!

But Jesus isn’t done yet.  He appears to Ananias and tells him to go see Saul. Ananias, being a Christian who values his life, is pretty leery of this idea. Then Jesus tells him that Saul (of all people!) is His "chosen instrument" to spread the good news! Ananias must have thought, "Huh? Saul?!" I’m sure he questioned whether or not he heard Jesus correctly.  Anyway, to his credit, Ananias obeys.

Because both men do as Jesus instructed, Saul regains his sight and does a complete 180! He is baptized, goes from Saul to Paul, and goes from Number One Christian Opponent to Number One Christian Proponent.  

This just shows us that, with the Lord, we can expect the occasional huge surprise. His astounding ways are so much bigger than ours! Even when we don't understand what He's doing and naturally hesitate to obey Him, we can trust in His directives and go forward without fear. When we do, the Lord and His Spirit will do the rest.