VOLCANO OR TSUNAMI
Opening Prayer
God of the old and God of the new, of tradition and innovation, sometimes my spirit becomes jaded by overfamiliarity. Visit me with freshness.
Read ACTS 9:1–9
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
New International Version (NIV)
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Reflect
Reflect on how you first came to know Christ. It was probably less dramatic than this story, but spend time thanking God for revealing his Son to you.
Saul was shocked to the core. We often read this story casually, ignoring the immensity of the experience for Saul. What did he think about during those three long days without sight and without food and drink? His theology, his understanding of God, his own spiritual standing—all were completely overturned. Try to enter into the sense of shock he felt at the enormity of his actions—having spent his energy persecuting Christians, suddenly to realize that their Jesus was alive and that he had been acting against God himself.
N. T. Wright suggests that at the time Saul may have been meditating on Ezekiel’s divine throne-chariot (Ezek. 1:26–28) but that the face he saw was of Jesus. He says, “We call this event a ‘conversion,’ but it was more like a volcanic eruption, thunderstorm and tidal wave all coming together… The moment when all the ancient promises of God gathered themselves up, rolled themselves into a ball, and came hurtling… out into the wide world.”
There may be times when we are challenged about some aspect of faith that contradicts cherished beliefs. How do we react in such cases? Are we willing for God to show us we’ve been wrong, perhaps for many years? Are we willing to rethink our position? Do we have the humility to admit the need to change our views, perhaps publicly? Perhaps we find a new understanding of the original
meaning of a word. I remember several such eye-opening moments—admittedly not as radical as Saul’s complete turn-around, but challenging for me. Are you open to God showing you new things?
Apply
Later, Paul reflected on this experience (Gal. 1:13–24). He was quite open about his changed thinking. How are you willing to risk opposition because you change your mind as God teaches you?
Closing prayer
Lord, I admit to being more comfortable with incremental change, not the overly dramatic. Perhaps I have become too comfortable. So, shake me, Lord, if You need to.
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