What Good Can Come From Persecution.

Acts 9:15-16 ESV
“But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man (Saul soon to be Paul) is my chosen instrument  to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

I was told all my life, in church, that Saul made a huge mistake in his quest for the Jews. Raised in the line of the Pharisees, Saul studied under the best scholars of his day. Saul had a great zeal for God and the scriptures. (There was not a Bible Old or New Testament until sometime late 300 AD.)

Saul studied primarily the Pentateuch, the first five books of what we know as the Old Testament. Obviously he missed some of the key prophecies about the Messiah. He only saw the Messiah as very prominent figure that would rally the Israelites and overturn the Roman rule. He and most of the Jews believed Jesus was an imposter, not the Messiah.

Saul took up the lead role as persecutor of The Way, the first name for the Christians. Saul beat, imprisoned, tortured and killed hundreds if not thousands in the name of God as he and the Jews saw the will of God.

On the Damascus Road, Saul saw a great light and was temporarily blinded and he heard the voice of Jesus. Saul was dazed and confused. He was lead into the city and he sat for 3 days trying to put everything together. God told Ananias this scripture that we are looking at today.

Saul may have been mistaken about the will of God and Jesus as the Messiah but Saul’s persecution of the church would teach him compassion, and the true love of God as will be experienced by his own persecution.

We go through things in our lives and at the time it does not make sense. We think those things cannot be the will of God and if vile they were not the will of God. Going through the hard times makes us tougher, more resilient, and gives us greater understanding. When we hate those times, we need to learn the lessons, and escape the pit falls in order to not repeat history.

Prayer:
Lord, sometimes I hate the things that I have walked through. Sometimes they haunt me but I know I am better than I was but not yet who I should be. Make me stronger, more resilient, make me more like you Jesus!