Have you ever looked at a situation that did not make sense? It may have been a situation that started out bad and then turned into something good and wonderful? Yet, once the wonderful settled down, once again life became tough. The life of Paul was one such life.

He was a man who hated Christians and spent his time making sure they were violently persecuted. He knew the law frontwards and backgrounds and lived a life trying hard not to violate the Jewish laws. He was very zealous in his persecution. It is not hard to see why once God came along and changed Saul to the man we know as Paul, Christians were still fearful of him. Is it possible that they discussed between each other, “Is this a set up? Has Paul really changed? Are we really safe? Is he now one of us?”

According to scripture Paul’s life was dramatically changed by an encounter with the true living God. In Galatians Paul speaks to the Galatians

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and shares that the word he now speaks comes from a direct revelation from God. He did not turn his life around on his own. Instead he acknowledges that the Lord called him at birth. Once God revealed his son to Paul, then known as Saul, on the Damascus Road, he was soon to be aware that he was to share the message of Jesus Christ. God's plan was to use Paul to change the world.

Paul’s life change was very dramatic. He went from a murderer of Christians to proclaiming Christ and the freedom that it brings. His life changed from being a zealous Jew to a herald of the gospel. People no longer lived in fear when they heard Paul’s name and that he was in the neighborhood. Instead according to Galatians 1:23-24 we read; All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who used to persecute us now preaches the very faith he tried to destroy! And they gave glory to God because of me. (NLT)

For Further Reading- Read Galatians 1:11-24