Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. (Acts 9:18)
I am using the conversion experience of Saul, who was transformed into the great apostle Paul, as our focal point for a great word of encouragement today. Saul the Pharisee was bent on persecuting the church, “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples” (Acts 9:1), but while he was on the road to Damascus to ramp up his persecution even more, Jesus appeared in the road in a flash of light, driving Saul to his knees and blinding him. Three days later, God sent a disciple named Ananias to Saul to commission the former Pharisee to spread the Gospel; at that time, as we see in today’s verse, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes and he could see clearly. This brings me to our promised encouragement of “clear seeing,” not “clear sailing.”
For the very first time, the apostle Paul could see the truth clearly. He had a saving encounter with the resurrected Jesus, and in that moment, Paul was raised from death to life. Now Paul could clearly see who Jesus was, what Jesus had come to do, and what the cost was for being His disciple. It was not long after His conversion that Paul saw that his Christian brothers and sisters feared him because of who he had been, and the Jews who were once his friends wanted to kill him because of who he had become. Paul understood the truth that being a follower of Christ brings the promise of “clear seeing, not clear sailing,” and he explained it this way. First, the clear seeing:
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. . . . For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4, 6)
When God, in His infinite grace and mercy, shines his light into our hearts, the scales of unbelief fall from our eyes, and we are able to behold and comprehend the salvation that is ours, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. That is clear seeing. But that does not in any way bring with it a promise of clear sailing! Consider Paul’s own testimony:
I have been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea. I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles. (2 Corinthians 11:23-26)
The Lord Jesus never shrank from telling His disciples about the cost of following Him. The more clearly we see this truth, speak this truth, and show this truth in love, the more we will be buffeted by the storm winds that blow. We must always remember that the promise is clear seeing, not clear sailing. In fact, when our Lord was instructing to Ananias to go to Paul, Jesus said, “[Paul] is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:15-16).
What storms winds have you been facing lately? Remember these words from Paul, who lived a life marked by suffering and storms for the sake of the Gospel: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). Like the apostle Paul, the way through your trial is to keep focused on Christ — seeing Him clearly — and not focusing on the rough sailing of our circumstances. Trust our Lord’s promise to get us safely to our final port of call, and you will experience the love and joy and peace that are the Spirit-filled qualities of the committed Christian life.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 