“He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” Galatians 1:23

This verse speaks about a drastic, miraculous and powerful change that was made in the life of Paul. He goes from persistent persecutor to powerful preacher, from destroyer to restorer, from attacking disciples to producing disciples, from liquidator to leader. Those who once feared him now followed him and his former enemies now were his friends.

These are the kinds of changes that typify someone who has had a real encounter with the living God. God has power tochange anything, anyone, anywhere.

Isaiah 55:10-13 states that God’s power can change a thorn bush into a cypress. I’ve seen that same power change a cheater of society into a champion of society, a prostitute into a prophetess, a drunk into a deacon, shaky finances into stable finances, an abusing spouse into an adoring spouse and a sinner into a saint.

God can take a person as he is and change him into what he was intended to be. He doesn’t give people criticism, but a chance. He will take a life that is drifting and give it direction. He will take a life that no one can use and use it like no one can.

This change doesn’t come from who you are, but from who He is. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus always brought His message to the worthless and then He always sent the worthless to bring the message. The Lord has always used the weak to confound the strong; and the foolish to confound the wise. The Lord loves taking the common and the ordinary and using it for the spectacular.

In the story of Moses, the Lord took an ordinary rod stretched it and parted a sea. In the story of David, He took a common pebble, flung it and slayed a giant. In the story of feeding the five thousand, He took a peasant boy’s lunch and fed a multitude. In the story of the woman at the well, the Lord took a rejected, promiscuous Samaritan woman, spoke kindly to her, and brought revival to an entire city. And here in the story of Paul, God took an
angry, self-righteous, legalistic, murderous persecutor, knocked him off his high horse and made him a preacher of the Gospel to the whole world.

How is that accomplished and how can you get those kinds of changes happening in your life? First, you need to understand the nature of God’s call on your life. To do this, let’s look at Paul’s calling found in Galatians 1:15-16, “But when He who had set me apart, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the gentiles.”

It’s important to note that the scripture does not say “that it pleased God to reveal His Son For Paul” so that he might be healed, or made rich, or have an easier life, or that he might escape the consequences of his actions. It does say “that it pleased God to reveal His Son In Paul” so that he might accomplish something on behalf of God.

The Greek work translated “called” is the word “kaleo,” which is an invitation to partake of the blessings of redemption and to participate in that same redemption by bringing it to others. It’s a call to both the benefits and the responsibilities of the Gospel. It denotes both a vocation and a destination. The inference is that the benefits of your calling are released as you embrace the responsibilities.

Acts 9:20-25 states how Paul immediately began to proclaim what little he knew to others. As a result, the scripture says, “he kept increasing in strength.” What determines if you get any more is what you do with the little you have.

The more Paul increased in strength, the more bitter the enemies of God became. He went from being a plotter to being plotted; and from being a hunter to being hunted. It’s important to note that if you grow in grace be prepared for more opposition. But have no fear, for like Paul, there will always be a basket and a hole in the wall for those who are being faithful to the call of God. It has been said that a man is immortal until his work on earth is done.

For those of you who feel that your life is too mundane,humdrum, and dull for God to use; cheer up because God has the kind of power that can turn the mundane into the majestic, the humdrum into the holy, and the dull into the divine. God has the power to change anything, anyone,anywhere.