It had to have been tough for Paul. And it must have been tough for the early Christians to welcome him. He had persecuted so many of them. What were they to think when all of a sudden, he was one of them? I’m sure many thought he was simply all talk, trying to deceive them.
And Paul – he must’ve been heartsick. He truly had changed and believed in Jesus now, and was on fire with the Holy Spirit. But he knew what he had done to so many of Christ’s followers before his conversion, and then to still not have the trust of so many of them – he knew he had to prove it to them. He knew he had to earn their trust by his works and deeds, through using the special gifts that God gave him.
And that’s the beauty of Paul’s story, of his witness, that no matter how much we mess up, no matter how much we sin, we can be forgiven. We can be saved. That Christ does love us and we can choose Him and even though we have to be pruned or cut down from time to time, we can come out stronger on the other side. That Christ is here for all of us, not just a select few, not just for the privileged, but for all of us. Everyone.
Imagine what it must have been like for people to hear this story. Paul’s story. The story of Christ, and His conversion of Paul. They never heard anything like this before. But with many of the disciples and early Christians who knew of the old Saul, this trust likely took time to build up. Paul had to bear a lot of good fruit before many would trust him.
And so that is the challenge for all of us, to remain constant in our trust in Christ, our faith in Him – that regardless of what we encounter, we are to use the gifts he gave us, in our love of Christ, to do good things in this world, to bear good fruit – to inspire.
We all have a story. We all have experiences and we’ve all encountered Jesus in one way or another in our lives. How has He impacted you? How has He changed you? How does He live in you and factor into your daily life? Where can you share with others how Christ is in your life? Where can you be Christ’s hands and feet out in the world today? How can you spread His message?
It’s a long process. We may have to build trust with some that we’ve hurt. We may hold onto guilt from our past, we may feel unworthy, perhaps unforgiveable – but we have to let go of that guilt and let ourselves be forgiven by Christ. And we have to forgive ourselves. Perhaps that’s the harder part. I wonder how much Paul struggled with that early on.
But that story, that experience appealed to so many, because it was their story. It’s our story. And altogether it’s the story of a man, Jesus, who is God, who saved us, who remains in us, who is constantly caring for us, and who simply loves us. We are His story. How are we living His story and telling it out in the world?
