Dark gray to fiery orange, igniting into full-on yellow glory! The sky was literally changing before my eyes on my morning walk. As I witnessed this masterpiece of artwork God was painting before my eyes, I started to think about how many different changes the sun and its sunrise can take. The sun can go from barely showing to full-blown gorgeous! I can begin my walk with my beagle, and the sky is dark or maybe a sliver of the sun, but by the mid-point of our walk or the end, it is magnificent. There are days of yellow brilliance, others an orange-y fire, then others a full-blown purple majesty.

Day to day, week to week, month to month, season to season, one constant remains: the sunrise. It can rise quickly, and other times it’s a slow burn, literally. Our lives mirror because our stories, or testimonies, of how God has changed or is still changing us (since He’s never done!) often unfold differently. Sometimes the change is instant, a moment we can pinpoint, like a sunrise breaking over the horizon as you turn a corner or walk a block. Other times, a person’s testimony is a slow burner. The kind of sunrise that seems to be unchanging as you sit anxiously waiting, then you turn your head for a moment to look back and see the glory and beauty of it. Personally, my testimony was a slow burner, probably because I am a quiet, stubborn type of person, a story for another day.

No matter the speed of your testimony, it is the fact that God is changing you that matters and it is perfectly timed because it is all in God’s timing. 

A powerful story of transformation can be seen in Paul’s life. Before he was Paul, the man we know as one of the most influential founders of the Christian churches, he was so far from God’s plan for him that he actually had a different name, Saul. 

Saul was the polar opposite of the person he would become after his name change. Saul not only disagreed with this new belief, The Way, as most were calling it for their safety, but he also persecuted people because of their belief. In Acts 8, Saul was on a mission to destroy the Christian church because he believed, as a devout Jew who followed the law and traditions, that Christians threatened the covenant that God had with the Jews. So he took it upon himself, NOT from God’s message to him, to destroy the Christian church that was being built at the time. Spoiler alert, Paul was not successful because it actually scattered people and thus spread the Gospel to more locations. 

Here is another layer of scariness, Saul was doing all this with approval and basically a direct blessing from the religious authorities. Scary because Saul not only thought he was doing correct but leaders were agreeing and allowing him to harm, beat, and kill people because they had faith in Jesus. Saul hated the Christians and was in no way trying to find or learn about Jesus but Jesus was in hot pursuit of him!

While Saul was on his way to Damascus to persecute more people, God showed up! In Acts 9, Saul has a ‘light from heaven shine down around him’ and he immediately falls to the ground, which is such a submissive move in itself. I don’t know if it was because he was shocked, it hurt, or the fact that he didn’t know what to do at the moment. It makes me think when we have those ‘bring you to your knees’ moments ourselves, when difficulties stop you in your tracks, and all you can do is look up to God. Saul is on the ground when he hears a voice asking, ‘Why are you persecuting me?’ Saul has no idea who the voice is, not only because he is blinded by the light, but perhaps because he did not know or have a relationship with Jesus yet, and does not recognize the voice. Then the voice said, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! No, get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.’ Everyone is stunned, and Saul starts to stand up to realize he is blind. The scripture says Saul was blind for ‘three days’ and did not eat or drink.’ (Acts 9:1-9)

God starts making his chess-like move, telling a believer in Damascus, named Ananias, that he will help Saul. I would think Ananias would not be too happy with this assignment, as he would have known that Saul was persecuting people like himself, and Ananias even talks to God about it. God tells Ananias that Saul is His ‘chosen instrument to take (His) message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.’ (Acts 9:15)

Ananias obeyed God and went to find Saul. In Acts 9:17-20, the transformation happens, and there is no better way of telling it than directly from the scriptures:

“So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Instantly, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.

Afterward, he ate some food and regained his strength. Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days.

And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is indeed the Son of God!‘”

^{_{–Acts 9:17-20}}

The rest is definitely history! This transformation of God for Saul/Paul was just the beginning of Paul’s journey to do just that, bring the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus to us all! 

It is amazing to me how we have these examples in history of how God took someone like Saul and transformed his life. When I am doubting what I can do, have moments of “why me God,” or simply just don’t see the next step in my life, I turn to these transformation stories and I am comforted knowing that God has a transformation story for us all, he’s got the pen!

God, help me to stand firm in my faith as you are constantly transforming me for Your Plan and Your Purpose. Help me to have patience with Your Timing, trusting that every moment is shaping me for Your Kingdom. Amen. 

–💜Fuel your faith on Mondays. Grow it on Wednesdays. Live it on Fridays.