“HE SAW NOTHING!”

Acts 9:1-9                                       (ESV)

“1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the LORD, went to the high priest

2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him.

4 And falling to the ground, he heard a VOICE saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting ME?"

5 And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am JESUS, WHOM you are persecuting.

6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."

7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, “HE SAW NOTHING”. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”

The story of Saul being converted to Paul is one that carries a lot of CHANGES.  To begin with, Saul was “a Pharisee of the Pharisees” (Philippians 3:5) and participated in “threats and murder against the disciples of the LORD”!  He couldn’t SEE that he was doing anything wrong.  He was headed to Damascus with arrest warrants for anyone of The Way to squelch the movement which eventually became known as HIS CHURCH.  

But...... his journey was interrupted by a VOICE FROM HEAVEN that said “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting ME?" Now Scripture tells us that this VOICE was none other than JESUS, our CREATOR.  Saul’s EYES weren’t yet opened to SEE WHO was speaking to him, so he said “Who are you, Lord?”, to which JESUS replied “I am JESUS, WHOM you are persecuting.  But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."  Saul went from being a “feared persecutor” to being humbled into a sheepish, submissive state in the blink of an eye!  The thing that jumps out to me though is Saul’s sight was interrupted by GOD.  And when GOD interrupts something in your life, HE may or may not restore it???  Saul didn’t walk down the aisle in the nearest tabernacle.  But his life was Supernaturally TRANSFORMED by the Holy Spirit to become one of the greatest converts in history.  

Was JESUS unable to HALT Saul until this Damascus road experience?  

CHANGE for GOOD though seldom occurs without some uncomfortable things happening.  Saul spent three days fasting and waiting for Ananias to OPEN HIS EYES!  Could JESUS have waited another week and allowed more of HIS CHOSEN to suffer at the hands and ignorance of Saul?  Of course HE could have.  WHY then, did GOD IN THE FLESH, decide at THIS MOMENT to intervene and cause Saul to pause his actions?  If GOD could have seen fit in the last part of Acts 7, HE might have saved the stoning of Stephen?  The simple answer to the question is I AM NOT GOD and I simply must TRUST HIM to be RULER of the universe.  

Saul became Paul in Acts 13:9.  By now he was experiencing what JESUS told Ananias in Acts 9:15-16 “But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of MINE to carry MY name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.  FOR I WILL SHOW HIM HOW MUCH HE MUST SUFFER FOR THE SAKE OF MY NAME."  JESUS doesn’t mince words when HE pronounces TRUTH to us. Paul also experienced some MIRACULOUS occurrences in his life, but most of them had a cost!  For instance, in Acts 28 Paul was bitten by “a viper”, but that was only after the ship he was a prisoner in was sunk!  The people all around were waiting for him to swell up and die from the apparent poisonous bite.  However he shook it off and they said he was a god!  There was miracles, but there was also pain!  

I am not a prophet nor a preacher, but if you are not experiencing some resistance or difficulty, it might be because you are not threatening the enemy?  One of my favorite quotes is “GOD DELIGHTS IN IMPOSSIBILITIES”!  “Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, “HE SAW NOTHING”.”  After his EYES WERE OPENED Paul saw GOD perform MIRACLE after MIRACLE.  But “HE SAW NOTHING” had to happen first!  GOD has a Perfect timing that in which we are not guaranteed to understand.  We MUST understand that HE IS GOD, and WE ARE NOT, and when HE gets ready HE will open our EYES to SEE and we will experience TRUTH like we have never known it!!!