“Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.”
I loved it when I finally got the answer in math class. I don’t think it was my understanding, but a classmate, the teacher, or maybe my dad, who brought the “Ahaaa” moment that made all the parts fit, and I could see the answer. Not only that, but I was also able to fit the pieces of the math problem together to find the answer. Real understanding is when you can teach it to others. So, after that, I became a teacher of sorts, helping my classmates who did not get it. Math, for some, is a minefield of wrong answers and a lack of understanding, but under the right conditions, it can become a victory lap in understanding the language of math.
Saul was on his way to Damascus with letters from the high priests to imprison those who followed the Way of Jesus Christ. The Lord showed up on that road in a big way, and Saul fell to the ground. Jesus asked him why he was persecuting Him. Now blind from the encounter, he was led into the city and placed at the house of Ananias, a Christian who followed Jesus. The Lord spoke to Ananias, telling him that Saul was going to be an instrument for the Lord to the Gentiles, and instructed him to go and pray for him. After Ananias prayed, scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again.
Transformed, Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus, and at once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. Three days at the house of Ananias, and boom, a redeemed Saul is preaching that Jesus is the Son of God. What a change! What was the cause? Did he read the Scriptures more? Did he all of a sudden hear something that changed his mind? The only thing we are told is that Jesus met him on the road, and three days later, after Ananias prayed for him and he was filled with the Holy Spirit, he was preaching the same thing he used to put people in jail for. Even so, he was baffling the Jews in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
In chemistry, the agent that causes a reaction to happen is called a catalyst. Without it, the reaction would never happen. Saul experienced the catalyst, the Holy Spirit, the changing agent that made his hard heart change into one that was proving that Jesus was the Messiah.
The Holy Spirit is the gift of God, and He is given to all who call Jesus Lord and Savior of their lives. Just like the math problems, after you have the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, the Bible, comes alive to you. You hear God speaking through the pages and verses like a teacher slowly walking you through the toughest math problem.
Even with the Holy Spirit, we may not completely understand life in its current state, but you can rest assured that the Lord is working even when you don’t see it. The Holy Spirit keeps telling us that the Lord has it all under control. Have you met the Holy Spirit? Are you tired of flunking life’s tests? Try praying and asking the Holy Spirit to open your ears so you can hear Him speaking. You don’t have to flunk life’s exams anymore. One experience with the Master, and you could be just like Saul, baffling people with the wisdom of the Lord.
Prayer: Father, I pray that I will listen to the Holy Spirit and be a lifelong learner of the Word of God. I pray that I will not look at life as a minefield but rather a mission field where the Holy Spirit is leading me and guiding me. No longer will I fall prey to the schemes of the devil. I will overcome with the knowledge of Your Word and how my testimony changes lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let It Go 
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