Praise the Lord, I Saw the Light!

We started out church Sunday by singing this song:

Goodness gracious, I love me some bluegrass music! And wouldn't you know that my throat was hurting so badly that day, that I just could not barely sing. Boo! (By the way, this is not the first time this video has appeared on my blog) :D Does anyone else out there like bluegrass, or is it just me? I'm laughing right now because if you ever saw me at church, you would never suspect I enjoy music as much as I do. I am so serious and I rarely show emotion, but I guarantee you if you saw me at home, you'd see me dancing around like a crazy woman to this song.

Anyhoo.......our sermon was continuing in the "Can You See Him?" series. Life is one decision after another. God sees all the time. He sees every move and what you're going to do. We have a choice to listen to ourselves (who can only see a couple of moves ahead) or to listen to Him (who sees every move).

We were looking at Acts 9 and the story of Saul (who later became Paul). Saul was a Jew, a Pharisee, a religious person who studied higher education. He was the best of the best in this area, but he despised followers of Jesus. He got rid of the followers in Jerusalem for the glory of God. He was going to Damascus to get rid of more. But what happens there ultimately leads to Him being one of the main people to spread Christianity and he wrote much of the New Testament.

We don't even know what true persecution is here in America. There are still places today though, where they do face persecution for believing in Christ.

Those we think will never see the light are often the ones God will use to do great things. They might just be one step away from it. Those you think there's no hope for, you may be wrong. That's what happened in Saul's life. He went from proud to being blinded by the light. God always makes the first move to initiate salvation. As Saul was nearing Damascus, a light from Heaven flashed around him and it was Jesus. Jesus didn't reveal to Saul how influential he would be as Paul..........He just told him to go. Acts 9:6 - "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

God works in baby steps sometimes. We want to know the whole plan, but He tells us just to take the first step. He won't tell us all of the plan, because we can't handle a lot. God says, "You can't handle the truth." If we're obedient, we'll end up there, but we have to trust Him to get to where we want to go. We'll be too scared to take those steps if He tells us everything upfront.

It's like a light that we can see right in front of us. When it's dark, a flashlight will help us see a few steps in front of us. We can't see all the way across the room, but we can see each step and if we take each step, we'll make it there.

God is often silent when we're being disobedient. We don't like the next step that He's asking us to take, but He's basically being silent and saying, "What I told you to do.....it still hasn't changed." And He will be silent as He waits for us to be obedient. We want to take an alternate route, but that's not happening. We are to walk by faith, not by sight.

When Saul saw the light, he got up but was blind. He was blind for 3 days. The men who were with him led him to Damascus. There was a disciple named Ananias there, who the Lord spoke to. Ananias recognized the voice of the Lord and he knew about who Saul was (a murderer). He was like, "You don't mean that guy?!" But the Lord tells him to "Go!" (Acts 9:15) He was supposed to go see Saul and tell him that the Lord had sent him. "He has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again." (Acts 9:17-18a) And Paul went on to do great things.

The difference between where we are and where God wants us to be, is often the painful move we're unwilling to make.

God picks the move, not you. Maybe it's time to get current on your assignment that He's given you. Maybe we said "I'm done" and we need to trust Him again. You will never reach the finish line without taking the next step. No race is won with just one step. Too many believers are satisfied with mediocre. God gives us the mountain, but we stop half way up. The view from there is great, but it doesn't compare to the view from the summit. Go and do it!!