Have you ever given up on following your own plan after you realized that your plan leads you to a place you did not want to be? The Lord gives us free will which is an amazing thing. He gives us free will to go down the wrong road. He gives us free will to make choices even if they are not good ones. I have been down the wrong road at times in my life. I have experienced what it is to do my own thing. The good news is that the Lord used these things to show me the folly of the path I had chosen. In a kind way, the Lord made it evident that my ideas and plans were not His plans for my life.
Maybe you have also experienced the foolishness of your decisions. When this happens we can become more teachable and moldable. God does not waste our experiences, but uses them to move us in a different direction. That direction is in a relationship with the Lord Jesus.
In our story, Saul had gone down the wrong road. He thought he was listening to God, but he wasn’t. The only person he really fooled was himself. Saul was persecuting Christians and on his way to Damascus to continue that work. Then something happened! The Lord, the Divine Intruder invaded his life. The Lord knocked him off his horse, blinded him and spoke to him.
As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” 5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! 6 Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” [1] Acts 9:3-6.
The Lord set Saul on a different path through this divine intervention. Saul realized for the first time the folly of his plan for his life. He was now teachable and would listen to what God’s plan was for him. Saul, or Paul as he is known in the New Testament, became one of the greatest evangelists the world has ever seen.
Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. 20 And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!” 21 All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem?” they asked. “And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests?” [2] Acts 9:19-21.
What path are you on? Is the Lord breaking in to lead you to a more fulfilling path in life? Is the Lord calling you to a deeper relationship with Him? Then Jesus said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. Luke 9:23.[3]
It is never too late to change directions when the Lord is guiding you! Let the Lord be your co-pilot.
To hear the story of the Divine Intruder and Saul, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/series/journey-with-the-divine-intruder/the-divine-intruder-and-saul
[1, 2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Acts 9:3–6, Acts 9:19-21, & Luke 9:23). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.