Picture this.  You’re walking along a country road.  It’s a long walk, but you and your friends are headed for the city.  You have business there.   You walk and talk.  It’s a very ordinary day.

Then out of nowhere comes a blinding light, bright as the sun and right in front of you!  You can’t see, you shield your eyes and fall to the ground.  You’re terrified!   Then comes a voice, a voice you’ve never heard, a voice that knows you and speaks directly to you.  Shock, panic, fright – words don’t describe how you feel.  You listen and the words overwhelm you.

Yes, that’s the story of Saul.  He was on the road to Damascus.  He had business there.  Today he was on a mission from the High Priest.  He was authorized to arrest any followers of Jesus Christ.   His goal:  to wipe out the new Christian Church.

But that voice!   “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

Who is speaking, Paul asks.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.  Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”   Acts 9:4-6

Saul’s friends were bewildered.  They didn’t hear any voice.   But their blinded friend needed them.  They helped him up and walked with him into Damascus to a man named Judas, where he stayed. Meanwhile, following a vision from Jesus, Ananias went to Saul.  He found Saul praying for help. Ananias laid hands on him.  Saul’s sight was restored and he was filled with the Holy Spirit.  The hate-filled Saul became a love-filled Paul. 

Paul’s conversion proves that God can call and transform anyone he chooses, even the most hard-hearted.  A person’s past does not matter to Christ. He is more interested in a person’s future. Even though Saul had been one of Jesus’ cruelest enemies, he became one of his closest friends.  God often chooses the most unlikely people, flawed men and women.   But when God calls a person to a task, he equips them for it.

He calls me.  He calls you.   We may not feel up to the task, but he equips us for whatever he asks.  Now that’s a real confidence booster.

This South African song says it so well.

Judy