How would you react to a life altering, massively changing moment in your life…followed by blindness? For three days, Saul waited, prayed, pondered and wrestled with what had happened to him. First, he was proceeding with his day, and with no warning, he is blinded by a light. He was called out in a “spade is a spade” moment, “Why are you persecuting me?” He came face to face with someone he doesn’t know, but addresses the voice as lord (lower case). Saul was a devout Jew. He knew God, His Law, His prophets and His story, but didn’t know His Son. Jesus revealed himself, rattles off a couple of commands and departs, leaving Saul to decide what he was going to do…continue with his plan or follow Jesus. Saul was left with one complication; he couldn’t see. When he stood to depart from this encounter on the road, he was blind. Well, didn’t that just throw a wrench into things! Luckily, he had some traveling buddies that guided him to town, but, now what?
For three days, Saul contemplated and prayed about what was before him. He chose not to eat or drink anything. Fasting could bring clarity, but the reality was he didn’t know what was happening. He was told, with the barest of instructions, get up and go, and you WILL BE told what to do. WILL BE—at some point. Not much to work with! So many questions! What, when, how, why, for how long???
But here is the reality; Saul had a choice, just as we do every day. Do I wait for God to show me the next step, or do I proceed on my own. We might not be physically blind and dependent on others, but we are spiritually blind and dependent on the Spirit leading us. Saul didn’t know the next step, so he waited. He didn’t know where the instruction would come from, so he waited. He needed to be sensitive to understand what was unfolding, so he waited. Waited to eat and drink, waited for more information, and waited to be directed. He had no clue when he would know, so he waited. This was not only unexpected, but unavoidable, because Jesus had scheduled a divine appointment and he was not going to let Saul miss it.
God has divine appointments for us, too. Often, we are headed out on our own path, with our own plan. We may not encounter a blinding light, but often we are tripped up or blocked by a large boulder in our way. We wonder what happened and why we are encountering such difficulties in moving forward. Many times we try to get around them with our own efforts, only to be met with more difficulty. We, too, need to wait and seek God. Praying and fasting are ways to listen and discern what He wants us to do. Like Saul, three days may be enough, or we may need to linger longer.
God was gracious to Saul and sent him a vision. There was hope given in this vision through a man placing his hands on Saul to regain his sight. I wonder about Saul’s lingering, and his praying and fasting. Was it his willingness to place himself before God and seek only Him that allowed him to receive direction so quickly? It isn’t a formula or check list, but the Bible does tell us if we humble ourselves before the Lord, He will lift us up. Through being lifted up, we get a new perspective—God’s perspective. From there, He can show us what He wants us to see, how we are to proceed and how best to either move the boulder, or get around it.
We all encounter obstacles or boulders in this journey of life. Trying to move or climb over them on our own is tiresome and hard. If we are willing to humble ourselves, just as Saul humbled himself, we can receive guidance, just as he did. Saul’s encounter was a turning point in his life. We may not experience a blinding light, but God does want to meet with us and we, too, can have a turning point. We must humble ourselves and seek His plan. He is just waiting for us to turn to Him for direction.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10
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