Alone In A Crowd With God

Acts 9:3-7

3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. KJV

It is to the glory of God and a testament of His power and mercy that He can get us alone even in a crowd. Saul, soon to be Paul, may have been in the midst of a conversation with the men he had with him or just finished detailing the plan of attack for Damascus when Jesus broke into the midst of them. They were alone in a crowd for all the others saw was a light and the sound of a voice that they were not able to hear with understanding. Paul was in a spotlight and instead of him being the center of attention that his prowess gained him in public life the center of attention was Jesus Christ. That is how it should always be with us. He should be supreme even when His light shines upon us in our ministry,

Jesus had probably been getting to Saul since the stoning of Stephen. That glorious testimony and that joy in death as he saw Jesus on God's right hand had to work on Saul. The way the others acted that he jailed or how those who died in his presence must also have had some impact on him like cattle prods or pricks, but his zeal and pride caused him to kick against them rather than moving to the conclusion that Y'Shua was truly the Messiah. His heart may have been almost there, but Jesus' plans needed to be put in place as He protected those in Damascus and accomplished His will for Saul in one conversation in a beam of light.

There may come a time in the middle of our ministry where we will become preoccupied with it and maybe even having some great concerns like Isaiah in his work in the temple. It will be a time when Jesus has to break in on us even if we are in the middle of a service or even in the middle of a sermon to tell us what we need to hear be it praise, rebuke or direction. When it happens we may be as awestruck as both Saul and Isaiah until we can say what wilt thou have me do or here am I, send me. It will be better for us if we have had time in seclusion alone with Him before that break in rather than maybe working against Him as we pursue our own goals and not His.

Just as our personal carnal growth flourished in the darkness of this world secluded from the Light of Christ we must now seek periods of seclusion in the Light for our personal Christian growth and so that the Light may shine brightly through us to reach others. Indeed, as we grow in Him the sweeter those secluded moments will become and like the old song we might linger until He bids us go with a voice of woe for those we are called to reach. O Lord, make it so in our lives!!!