Can God work through me? Extraordinary Encounters Part 4

During this series we’ve been exploring big life questions like; ‘Do I matter to God?’, ‘Does God really see me?’ or ‘Am I too bad for God?’. To finish this series, we are looking at the question: ‘Can God work through me?’. I wonder what your immediate reaction to this is. If anyone had reason to doubt that God could work through them, it should have been Saul. Saul lived in the first century around the time of Jesus. He was from Tarsus (modern day Turkey) but spent a lot of time in Jerusalem studying his religion – Judaism. He was a well-educated man and a very devout Jew and was also a Pharisee (religious leader). However, Saul hated followers of Jesus and he made its his mission to arrest, persecute and even kill them because he believed they were acting against the Jewish faith. But God had other plans for Saul. One day, while Saul is travelling from Jerusalem to Damascus (on his way to arrest some Jesus followers) something remarkable happens;

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’ (Acts 9:3-6).

Saul encounters Jesus, and his life is never the same again! It’s such a dramatic encounter that Saul temporarily loses his sight, but God sends a man called Ananias to help him. Saul’s sight is restored, he is baptised and he becomes a follower of Jesus; the very person he set out to persecute.  What God says about Saul is just amazing: ‘This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel’ (Acts 9:15). Isn’t it incredible that God would choose such a person? In fact, Saul spends the rest of his life serving God and God uses him to spread Christianity throughout the Mediterranean. Saul comes to be known by his Roman name Paul and is considered as one of the Apostles of Jesus and he wrote nearly half of the New Testament part of the Bible.

So how is that Paul’s life was so dramatically transformed?  Well, it’s because his extraordinary encounter wasn’t just with any old person. He met Jesus! Jesus is God in human form, the Son of God who came to earth to bring salvation for all. True transformation can only come through encountering Jesus. There is no other way. That is what the Christian faith is all about. I can share my own ‘road to Damascus story’ which took place on 29th October 2013 while I was driving from Guildford to Farnham. It was a particularly difficult time in my life; it felt like a lot had gone wrong in a short space of time and I had hit a dead end personally. I was full of guilt and shame, and totally unable to break free from a life of sin. I had grown up knowing and hearing about Jesus in church, or reading about him in the Bible, but I had never accepted him into my life. Then, when I was on this journey to Farnham and feeling in total despair, a simple thought entered my mind. They were these words: ‘the answer is Jesus’. Everything changed from that moment, because I accepted this answer and I accepted Jesus into my heart completely. Transformation took some time in my life, because God had a lot of work to do, but it was a complete and life-changing process. It’s a transformation that can only happen when we have an extraordinary encounter with Jesus.

Have you met Jesus yet? Have you accepted Him into your life? Do you think that God can work through you?

If you are exploring any of these questions, please do get in touch via our website or on social media. We would love to help you on your journey of faith.

If you are a follower of Jesus, what is your experience of his transforming power in your life? Are there areas you hold back from Him?

Listen to the full talk on our podcast below…

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