Blinded for a Reason (2)

Remember when you played pin the tail on the donkey?  Someone would cover your eyes with a handkerchief, spin you around, give you the tail, and set you loose.  As you timidly walked forward, praying you were actually walking forward or toward the donkey on the wall, you hoped the tail at least made it somewhere in donkey country than anything else.  I was bad at this game.  I never liked playing it.

Isn’t that the same feeling as when you don’t know where you’re going in life and you really hope you’re going in the right direction?  How many times did you fail before you hit the right track?  I’m sure this feeling comes as a result of many failed experiences, blinded to what’s to come or what’s around the corner.  Saul (now Paul) was once the persecutor of the early church.  He longed to find those following Jesus’ teaching and have them thrown into prison.  He was of the religious elite.  You remember, the same elite Jesus once hurled woes to because of the unreasonable burdens they would put on the weak?

And, yet, in His mercy, Saul was chosen to be a prominent leader of the new movement.  On the road to Damascus, Saul is suddenly blinded by a light, a light that the others in his party couldn’t see but could still hear the voice that called out, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  He immediately responded, “Who are you, Lord?” and Jesus replied that it was him along with instructions to go into the city.

That’s it.  Well not really.  The light that Saul saw also blinded him.  For three days, he was escorted but he followed Jesus’ orders, going into the city, for it was there that he would await further instruction.

Are you blinded?  Do you feel like you’re walking to nowhere?  Chances are you could be walking to nowhere, with no instruction.  Hopefully, though, you are walking purposefully, walking where He has told you to walk even though you don’t know what’s up ahead.  Saul surely didn’t know what was to come, that his name would change, he would lead thousands (millions) to Christ, and also he would suffer for the cause of Christ.  However attractive that may or may not sound, his reward on earth was exchanged for heavenly treasures.  He listened, followed, and trusted in God.  Sometimes, it requires not knowing how you’ll get there, being blinded temporarily, in order to bring about a dependence of Him, trust, to lead you where He is taking you.

 ¹ Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. ³ As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him,“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

 ⁵ “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

   “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. ⁶ “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

 ⁷ The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹ For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

Acts 9:1-9

2 days!