When life does not go how we thought it should,
why bother continuing on the same path to righteousness?
…Not that I have already obtained all this, or
have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to
take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and
sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I
do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead…” Philippians 3:12-13
Take a look at Saul, a Jewish Roman whom God
chose to change the path he walked to bring so many words to us.
Saul was a ‘good man’ in his own eyes if no one
else’s. He tried to do what his scriptures told him were right. He tried to
follow the Law of Moses. Things were going along so perfectly how he thought
they should go. He thought the Believers of the Way were blasphemers and were
causing trouble against God. He received permissions and funding to do away with them and
punish them for being against what he thought was the truth. He was wrong.
Then Jesus stepped in his path and corrected the
wrongs.
As he journeyed he came near Damascus
Then the
Lord said to him, “Arise and go
into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
And the men
who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he
saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into
“Lord, what do You want me to do?” The most important choice of
words Saul could have asked for in his humbleness of heart God changed his path
to the Truth.
Jesus
changed his name to Paul, In Hebrew the meaning of the
name Saul is: 'Asked for;
inquired of God.' Paul on the other hand means 'little or small'. Saul
thought he was 'all that' but God showed him that he was small in comparison to
what he thought. He was humbled from whom he thought he was, and brought low to
the point of prison, beatings near death, and many other sufferings in order to
share the Truth.
God used every part of his training; Saul was trained
well as the son of a Pharisee. He knew the law and the prophets.
Then he said: “I am
indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the
feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and
was zealous toward God as you all are today. I
persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men
and women, as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of
the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to
Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished. “Now it
happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus Damascus
Sometimes
even when we think we are doing the right thing, we are not. Sometimes we are
not the best judge of what is right. That is why we bother to follow Jesus,
that I why we bother to listen to the Holy Spirit when we read the Bible and
pray. If all we did was study the words in the Bible as any other book we might
be able to understand some of it but without the Holy Spirit as our guide we
would not understand the why, the where and the what now’s of the Word of
God.
God knew
Paul would lead many people in his life time and He knew that he meant well,
God knows our hearts after all. He knows the trouble you ware walking through
today and He knows why you should bother to pay attention when He tells you to
listen up!
For He knows
the plans He has for you… Jeremiah 29:11 tells us. He knows where He is sending
you and why
.
Sometimes it
does not feel like it, or appear like things are turning out like we think they
should have. Many of us have had dreams; we planned to achieve great things
that have always seemed just out of reach. God knows our hearts, He knows our
desires and if we keep going He will give us those desires in His time, in His
way. Though we are told by God’s Word that our ways are not His ways; He will
keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him. Perhaps the delay is in not looking
for His way to achieve what we desire? Perhaps we are going about things our
own way, trying to be great in God’s kingdom by doing what we think is right?
Paul found
out He had to look to Jesus to find the directions and stop trying to do things
his own way, We need to remember that even if it looks right in our own eyes
God has way better eyesight!
God has
great plans for you today, for me too. I need to put my trust in Him to bring
it to pass His way, not mine. His timing is perfect.
So why bother?
Because He knows the plans and He knows what He will do if we just humble
ourselves before Him.
Dear
Heavenly Father, Help us all to keep our faith in Your directions. Blind us to
the things of the world that would draw us from the designs you have laid out
for us to follow. Keep us close that we may hear your voice speaking to us and
guiding us through the paths of life to the victory of Your plans for us. In
Jesus name, amen.
Suggested
reading: Acts 22:1-30, Jeremiah 29:1-22, and Philippians 3:1-21