Can you imagine yourself despising a dedicated group of people so much that you are willing to destroy or imprison as many as possible because they were challenging your way of life? One of the primary pieces of evidence that we are being controlled by our ego is the passionate need to be right. That was Saul’s problem, and for some of us, it is also our problem.
We don’t know the number of people’s lives that were destroyed or imprisoned by the Pharisee Saul, but we do understand clearly that our Lord, seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in Heaven, knew. And yet, He loved Saul and had a very significant plan for him to carry out.
Think for a moment that someone in your life who is so opposed to you that they will use any legal means necessary to eliminate you. Can you imagine that God loves them and might even have a plan to use them in some special way?
That’s what happened to Saul, who became Paul and eventually wrote almost half the New Testament. We always need to remember that when we think a person is so incorrigible that God can’t possibly work in their life, He can and oftentimes will. There are people in my hometown that thought I was hopeless. I know because many of them told me so. Nevertheless, God never gave up on me and turned me around. It wasn’t as dramatic as Saul’s conversion, but He still lifted me up out of miry clay and planted my feet on a solid rock.