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Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
What happens to Saul when the Jerusalem brothers send him back home to Tarsus for his own personal safety? We do not hear of him for a few years. It needs to be said that personal safety was quite a temporary matter, as he faced tremendous danger later on, but in God's timing. He was not always rescued out of situations which were life threatening.
We do know that Saul went away into the wilderness of Arabia, for at least three years, to work things out.
He needed time to be on his own. To be alone with Jesus - to think and pray and listen, and to consider the implications of what has happened to him over these past months. Can you imagine Saul reading his Old Testament in the light of his experience of the risen living Lord Jesus Christ outside the city of Damascus? He reads Isaiah, Jeremiah, the other prophets, the Psalms, Daniel, the lives of Abraham, Moses and Joshua, and in all of these scriptures he sees Jesus. These books take on a totally different meaning and significance.
Saul is learning what it means to be a disciple. When we come to Jesus we surrender. We do not negotiate. That's another hard lesson to learn. Being in the wilderness does not mean you are out of The Will of God.
Israel experienced the wilderness as did John the Baptist when the Word of God came to him. Following the baptism of Jesus when He was anointed with the Holy Spirit, He too is led into the wilderness and spends that period praying and fasting.
In the wilderness Jesus reveals to Saul something of what his life's work is going to be and some 30 years later he was able to say - "What Jesus gave me to do I have done." "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." For some 30 years Paul was faithful, loyal and obedient to His Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, but note the foundation which he laid.
Have a good solid sound foundation on which you can build something which will last, and if you should find this is a season when you are in the wilderness, that does not mean you are out of the Will of God.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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