AP

Acts 22:14-15  “Then [Ananias] said [to me]: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.  You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.’”

Paul would later write to the Romans (8:28): “… we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  As we read through the book of Acts we see how clearly this truth is demonstrated in his own life and circumstances!  Here, in Jerusalem following his Third Missionary Journey, he was arrested by the Roman Commander for being the cause of a riot among the Jews who opposed his message.  He was taking the opportunity to explain to the Commander in detail what had happened to change his life as he had entered Damascus with the intent of doing to the Christian believers there exactly what his ex-colleagues were now trying to do to him (Acts 9)!  

But God is sovereign – he determines the course of all human history: it was he who chose Paul, his avowed, active enemy, to participate in the saving work of Jesus, the Righteous One; it was he who made Paul a ‘new creation’ in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).  I should imagine it would have been with some feeling that he wrote to the Romans: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” Romans 5:8-10).  

Yes, it was God who revealed himself to Paul directly in words in order that he might share the message of the Gospel, firstly by his missionary work in western Asia and south-eastern Europe, and ultimately to the whole world (including us!) through his Spirit-inspired writings.  Nothing is too hard for this sovereign God.  What is he doing in your life, and what opportunities is he giving you to ‘be his witness … of what you have seen and heard’?

– Bruce Christian