As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (vv.3-6)
Somewhere outside of Damascus this (a light shone around him from heaven), suddenly happened to Saul. This spectacular event must be regarded as unusual. God does not normally confront sinners with a heavenly light and an audible voice from heaven. In Acts 22:6 Paul revealed that this happened at mid-day, when the sun shines at its brightest. Yet Paul said that this light was brighter than the sun (Acts 26:13). Saul’s reaction was simply to fall to the ground. This wasn’t because of honor or reverence for God, it was simply a reaction of survival – he was terrified at the heavenly light.
Then he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" When God repeats a name twice, it is to display deep emotion, but not necessarily anger (as in the Martha, Martha of Luke 10:41 and the Jerusalem, Jerusalem of Matthew 23:37). As the heavenly light overwhelmed him, Saul was confronted by the true nature of his crime: He persecuted God, not man. You see, Saul thought that he was serving God in viciously attacking Christians, but now discovered he was fighting God. Then Saul responded to the voice with two of the most important questions anyone can (and must) ask God. Who are You, Lord?… Lord, what do You want me to do? Wow!
So now we see Saul, the most zealous persecutor of the church; about to be converted, baptized, filled with the Holy Spirit, and immediately begin preaching Christ in the synagogues. How did this happen? Somewhere along the 150-mile road between Jerusalem and Damascus, the one who was going to stamp out “the Way” was instead, stamped forever by the Lord Jesus. It was here on the road where Our LORD; called Saul, instructed him to go to Damascus, struck him with blindness (v.8), and brought Ananias to him there (vv.10-12).
Then Ananias, through instruction and encouragement by God (v.15-16) would; heal Saul’s blindness (v.18), see him filled with the Holy Spirit (v.17), baptize him (v.18), feed him (v.19) and watch as he immediately began to preach in the synagogues (v.20). Now that’s a conversion!
Saul’s conversion reminds us that God finds some who, by all appearance, are not looking for Him at all. Seeing how God reached Saul encourages us to believe that God can reach the people in our life that we think are very far from Him. We often give up on some people and think they will never come to Jesus; but the example of Saul shows God can reach anyone.
Therefore, continue to pray for those around you who are lost, for there is hope!
The Truth: “Then came the Word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying, “I Am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there anything too difficult for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:26-27)
