| July 17 | ||
| The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me. And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands. | ||
| 2 Corinthians 11:31-33 | ||
| We find the story to which Paul alludes in Acts 9 ... As he headed towards Damascus in order to persecute Christians, the Lord confronted Paul and he was converted immediately. Shortly thereafter, God said of him, ‘He is a chosen vessel unto Me to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel (Acts 9:15). Paul will talk to kings and impact some Jews, but he’ll be a minister to Me among the Gentiles primarily.’ Yet such a heart did Paul have for the Jews that he said he would be damned for their sake if it meant they would be saved (Romans 9:3). So he headed straight for the synagogues as if to say, ‘I can do You a whole lot of good, Lord. I was trained to be a Pharisee. I know how they think.’ And it made sense logically. Paul seemed to have the gifts, the background and the testimony to impact the Jews radically. But they didn’t buy what he was saying, so he left Damascus and spent three years in the Arabian wilderness being tutored by Jesus Himself (Galatians 1:17) — after which time he headed once again to the Jews. He proved to them Biblically and persuasively that Jesus is indeed the Christ. The result? They wanted to kill him (Acts 9:23). And his heart must have sunk. He went to Jerusalem next. And when he got there heartsick, let down, wondering what was happening, he joined himself to the disciples. But even they were afraid of him, so he spoke boldly to the Grecian — those Jews who had adopted Gentile customs — as if to compromise with the Lord. What did they do? They decided to kill him (Acts 9:29). At this point, the believers sent him out of the country. He went to Tarsus for seven to ten years where he ministered in obscurity. He must have been thinking, ‘I don’t get it.’ But the Lord had plans for Paul. Barnabas sought him out, saying, ‘Let’s go minister in the north to the Gentiles.’ ‘Great!’ said Paul. And at last he began ministering to those he was supposed to, the world was turned upside down, and the fruit remains to this day. That is why he said, ‘I’m going to glory in what was the hardest thing in my life — when I was let down, when things weren’t working out, when I was wondering where the Lord was. The greatest glory in my whole life was when the doors I thought would open up were shut tight — because it was then that God had His way.’ ‘Use me, Lord,’ we cry. ‘I would make such a great worship leader.’ Yet as the weeks turn into months and the months into years, we wonder, ‘What’s happening?’ ‘Don’t worry,’ Paul would say to us. ‘I look back now and see that the day I was denied the ministry I thought I would do so well as the most important turning point in my life outside the turning point of my salvation.’ If you’re let down, understand this: if you’re walking with the Lord to any degree, you’re going to look back and say, ‘I am so glad He said No.’ Time will always prove the Lord to be right. That is why Paul could say, ‘If I must glory, I will glory in the biggest disappointment of my life. Yes, I was heartsick at the time, but now I see the incredible wisdom of God.’ | ||
