Rays of Hope ~ Tim Stockton
Before becoming the apostle Paul he was totally against those who were in “the Way,” which is what people who followed after Christ were called. In Acts chapter nine it is recorded that he “was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, and went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” Paul had a hatred for those he thought were spreading lies and trying to deceive those of the Jewish faith. He believed it was his duty and obligation to put a stop to what was spreading.
Then on what has become known as the Damascus Road experience he was struck blind but heard the voice of the Lord asking him why he was being a persecutor. Paul, filled with fear and astonishment humbled himself and made himself available and obedient to the very One he was trying to have others arrested or killed for. Being blind he made his way to where Christ had told him to go and then in a vision Paul saw a man coming to him to lay hands on him in order to receive his sight.
Ananias also heard from Christ to go to the place where Paul was at and to do the very thing Paul had a vision of. He came in and he laid hands on Paul and explained to him that he would get his sight back and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul stayed in that place for a few days to eat and gain some strength back, but immediately began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Christ and never stopped preaching and teaching this truth.
This is what is so amazing of how one person could be so strongly against something he believed to be so wrong and then have the encounter he did and was completely transformed to be willing to suffer all that he did for the sake of his new revelation. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11 after Paul had helped start up and continue to preach to the Gentile people he was explaining to them of just a few of the things he has now had to go through because of him also now being “in the Way.”
Paul went through these traumatic events yet he still was willing to believe, risking his life that others may also come to know the truth. He has been beaten numerous times, imprisoned several times, he had been stoned not unto death, shipwrecked three times, he had been in immediate and serious danger of the sea, robbers, his own countrymen, the Gentiles, within the city and in the wilderness, among the false brethren who preached another Jesus. Through times of weariness and toil, sleeplessness, hunger, and thirst, besides other things he didn’t mention he continued to persevere to spread the knowledge of Christ. This man, Paul had to either be truly insane and delusional; or he truly had an experience that not only changed him but gave him the boldness to live in the Way no matter what circumstances he had to face.
7-23-23 TRS
Rays of Hope 