As we share the gospel with others we will meet a number of people and see the gospel affect them in a number of ways.
In the book of Acts we read about Saul. Saul was full of hatred and rage against the church. He was well educated and from what we are shown he was very dedicated to the destruction of the church.
It is not hard to imagine that all of these people that Saul had arrested or had imprisoned had shared with him at some point in the process. Just think how irritating it must have been and how futile it must have made Saul feel that all of his efforts to stamp the church out did not stop the church. How many times did Saul see the faith in those he arrested. How many times did he see the joy and peace that are fruits of the Spirit and wonder why he did not have those same fruits in his own life when he was striving so hard to serve what he knew to be right.
When Jesus met Saul on the Damascus road he told Saul that it was hard to kick against the goad. The Holy Spirit had been working in Saul’s life long before that meeting on the road. Much of the reason for Saul’s rage was likely just a result of his failing battle against what the Spirit was showing him. On top of that, Saul’s battle had become his life and God chose something that Saul could not have expected or even attempted to prepare a defense for to get past the anger and hurt and bring him to a place where he would just listen.
If you have not yet met someone like Saul, be assured that you will. God will prepare the ground and reach everyone that He has called. We are not told about what Saul had been told of the gospel or the love of Jesus before that Damascus road experience. We do not know what he was thinking or feeling as he could no longer fight the truth. We know only that God reached out to His wayward child long before Saul met Jesus on that road.
Sometimes when we deal with these angry individuals we have to remember that we do not know what God is doing in their lives or in their hearts. When they fight us with so much zeal and anger it may well be that they are just trying to fight of the truth that God is showing them. All we can do is share with them, pray for them, live our faith, and trust in God to complete His work.
Acts 7:58
Acts 8:1-3
Acts 9:1-19
In the book of Acts we read about Saul. Saul was full of hatred and rage against the church. He was well educated and from what we are shown he was very dedicated to the destruction of the church.
It is not hard to imagine that all of these people that Saul had arrested or had imprisoned had shared with him at some point in the process. Just think how irritating it must have been and how futile it must have made Saul feel that all of his efforts to stamp the church out did not stop the church. How many times did Saul see the faith in those he arrested. How many times did he see the joy and peace that are fruits of the Spirit and wonder why he did not have those same fruits in his own life when he was striving so hard to serve what he knew to be right.
When Jesus met Saul on the Damascus road he told Saul that it was hard to kick against the goad. The Holy Spirit had been working in Saul’s life long before that meeting on the road. Much of the reason for Saul’s rage was likely just a result of his failing battle against what the Spirit was showing him. On top of that, Saul’s battle had become his life and God chose something that Saul could not have expected or even attempted to prepare a defense for to get past the anger and hurt and bring him to a place where he would just listen.
If you have not yet met someone like Saul, be assured that you will. God will prepare the ground and reach everyone that He has called. We are not told about what Saul had been told of the gospel or the love of Jesus before that Damascus road experience. We do not know what he was thinking or feeling as he could no longer fight the truth. We know only that God reached out to His wayward child long before Saul met Jesus on that road.
Sometimes when we deal with these angry individuals we have to remember that we do not know what God is doing in their lives or in their hearts. When they fight us with so much zeal and anger it may well be that they are just trying to fight of the truth that God is showing them. All we can do is share with them, pray for them, live our faith, and trust in God to complete His work.
Acts 7:58
Acts 8:1-3
Acts 9:1-19
