Paul's Road to Damascus Conversion

If you could be transported back in time to witness one biblical event, which would it be? The transfiguration, the last supper, the crucifixion, the resurrection? All of those are great choices.

But my choice: Paul's "Road to Damascus" conversion. The story appears three times in Acts, in chapters 9, 22, and 26. Paul also alludes to the event several times in his letters, specifically 1 Corinthians and Galatians.

The early church needed someone with multiple citizenships, so that he could travel across borders. The early church needed someone highly-educated and well-versed in philosophy. The early church needed someone who could write in elegant Greek, yet communicate in Aramaic and Hebrew. The early church needed one of its fiercest enemies to make a dramatic, and highly conspicuous, turn toward God. And, perhaps most importantly, the early church needed that person to suffer greatly, in order to demonstrate that his conversion wasn't about accumulating material gains for himself.

That person was Paul.

It's hard to imagine an event that has so-altered the course of history. Even if you're already familiar with the story of Paul's conversion, go back and re-read those three chapters in Acts. I always come away amazed at God's power to accomplish whatever he wants.

In our prayers, we should humble ourselves before that power, and acknowledge the inevitability of God's will. Then, we should volunteer as instruments in God's plan, in whatever way he needs us.