The Most Famous Road Trip In History! | Acts 9:1-19

Takeaway: Verse 17

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.

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Transcription:

Welcome to The Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica Parkerson. This is the place where we meet up to read half a chapter of God’s Word together and remember how loved we are. Jesus extends an amazing invitation to us in the Bible. He says, come to me and I WILL give you rest. This is us RSVPing: Yes!! to that invitation. So, take a deep breath and let’s get started.

Today’s episode is called, “The Most Famous Road Trip in History.” So I hope you brought snacks. All right. Before we dive into Acts chapter nine, the first half, join me in a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for this story. In Jesus’ name we thank you for the hope that it brings us. We thank you that you are the God of the 180. You can do a 180 in anybody’s life. So we thank you. And we praise you ahead of time for what we’re gonna read today. Please open our hearts and our eyes to what you want us to understand and see in your word. It’s in Jesus’ name, we ask and pray. Amen.

Oh boy. Buckle your seatbelt because we are about to go on an incredible ride. Here we go. Acts chapter nine, beginning with verse one. “Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers.” Wow. “So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there.”

That’s what they called Christians, the Way. And I love that because Jesus himself said I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me. So I love that, they were the Way. Saul was not a fan of the Way. “He wanted to bring them, both men and women, back to Jerusalem in chains. As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shown down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

“‘Who are you, lord?’ Saul asked.” Can you imagine the terror?

“And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.'” Wow. Okay. So let’s just back it up a second. Saul is out there throwing Christians, followers of the Way in jail. It says in that first verse, he was eager to kill them. Now he meets the Lord of the Way, the way, the truth, and the life, on the road to Damascus. And Jesus is saying, I am calling you. Oh, my word. Okay. Let’s keep rolling in acts chapter nine.

“The men with Saul stood speechless.” I can imagine “for, they heard the sound of someone’s voice, but saw no one! Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink. Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision calling, ‘Ananias!’

‘Yes, Lord!’ He replied.

“The Lord said, ‘Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now. I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see.'”

You’re gonna love this, “‘But Lord,’ exclaimed, Anais, ‘I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.'” Ananias is giving a news report to the Lord, I love this. I’ve done this a million times. I totally understand Ananias, don’t you? “But the Lord said” and I imagine, I picture this, I have no biblical evidence for this, but I imagine the Lord going, “Ahhhhh.”, before he spoke to Ananias again, “But the Lord said, ‘Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles,'” gentiles are simply non-Jews “‘and to Kings as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he must suffer from my name’s sake.’

“So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said,” this is our takeaway verse today, verse 17, “‘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.'” Isn’t that beautiful? “Instantly” oh, it just gives me chills “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.”

I love the story of Saul on the road to Damascus. But I have to tell you it’s the Ananias part that I relate to more than anything. How many times have you felt like you were supposed to do something, that God was putting something on your heart, and you were like, yeah, Lord, um, have you considered this? And I mean, my friend Katie says something that I absolutely love. She’ll say. Lord, I resign again as your assistant. The Lord doesn’t need an assistant, he knows everything. He knows it all. He’s aware of all of the pieces in the puzzle. Dr. David Jeremiah is a great preacher. He says we have some of the puzzle pieces, the Lord has the box, the cover of the puzzle. He sees the whole picture. So when I was marinating on these words from Acts chapter nine that Luke, praise the Lord, wrote down, I was picturing myself resting in God’s will, because that’s hard for me. Sometimes I think I know best, maybe you feel that way too. But Lord, we’re just like Ananias sometimes. And I felt like God gave me this picture. You and I, what if we just rested in God’s will like a baby in his mama’s arms. Is there anything more peaceful than a sleeping baby in the arms of his mama? So whenever you’re tempted to, you know, reassign yourself, the position of assistant to the Lord, picture yourself, just resting in God’s arms. Resting in his will resting in the fact that he knows best. All right, part two of Saul’s incredible journey to becoming a Christian, a follower of the Way, coming up next time, can’t wait. Till then, remember you are loved.

Thank you so much for listening to the Bible for Busy People. If you need prayer or you’re ready to go a little deeper in your faith, we’ve posted some resources for you in our show notes. We’d love for you to share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us reach even more people with the hope of Jesus. This podcast is part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts that will recharge you at onpurposely.com.