The crinkled letter had obviously traveled thousands of miles to get to my mail box. The address was unfamiliar to me, but the blue and red stripes around the outer edges of the envelope told me it was an international piece of mail. As I opened it and began to read it, I couldn’t help but cry as I read the stories from a brother in Christ who was experiencing grave persecution in his home town in India.
Do you ever hear stories about Christians around the world that are persecuted and even die for their faith? How are we supposed to think about the people who hurt them and even kill them? How am I not supposed to be filled with great hatred toward the people who were hurting my new found friend in India?
In the Bible, there is a story about a Christian killer. He ruthlessly would persecute Christians until death. Yet that very man was someone whom God used to bring the Gospel all over the world.
Perhaps you have heard about Saul in the book of Acts chapter 8. He would go around persecuting Christians, leading others in this gruesome act and then stand by in authoritative approval of their execution!
Imagine being a Christian in Paul’s time. Not only would you be fearful of him, but you would probably be convinced that a guy like that could never change. Surely someone who wouldn’t think twice about killing a Christian would never become one himself.
To many people’s surprise – including Saul – that’s exactly what happened on the road to a city called Damascus.
In Acts 9, while Saul was on his way to go rile up more believers and arrest them, Jesus appeared out of nowhere in the clouds and asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
After Christ’s appearance, Saul was blinded for 3 days until he met a Christian named Ananias whom God used to give Saul back his sight. After that, Saul was a new man. He accepted Jesus and was baptized. Quite a conversion experience, right?
Not only did God change Saul’s life, but He also used Saul in a powerful way: he changed his name to Paul, a name you might recognize, because it was Paul who wrote most of the letters we have in the New Testament of our Bible.
Saints, don’t lose hope when sharing the gospel with the hard-hearted. If a former murderer of Christians can be saved and greatly used, then maybe the person you’re thinking of has a chance.
Pray for people who don’t know Christ and don’t be afraid to share your faith with them – even if it seems hopeless. God hasn’t given up on them, and neither should you.
