The Right Question, All The Time

“And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.” (Ac 22:10 AV)

 

Paul is giving testimony to a hostile crowd of Jews ready to kill him.  He is telling his story of the event on the road to Damascus when the LORD knocked him to the ground, blinded him, and confronted his rebellion.  The question Paul asked is our focus this morning.  Paul had a stubborn streak.  He didn’t learn the easy way.  He was a man of passion and conviction.  Hard-headed in his personality, Paul had to be knocked to his knees and his eyesight taken from him before he was willing to ask the question above.  He thought he was doing the will of God with great zeal as he persecuted the saints.  Although we can consider what it would take for us to have the same consideration over God’s will, we simply want to consider the question alone.

One of the icebreakers we often played is the mystery maze.  We would set up an obstacle course on our gym floor with chairs and other small objects.  We would take turns and someone would go through it while blindfolded.  They would have to listen to the instructions of those placed along the course to get through it safely.  A score was kept bearing how many mistakes were made.  However, the last person was a guinea pig.  While he was secluded and out of the room, the entire floor was cleaned off.  No chairs.  No objects.  An entirely empty floor lay before him.  However, he didn’t know that.  The course would begin and his classmates would yell out instructions when there was nothing to avoid.  The entire humor about it was seeing the contestant avoid, climb over, and rotate around objects that were not there.  Of course, before the blindfold was removed, he would be told he made absolutely no mistakes and was the first person in the history of the game to get a perfect score.  Then the blindfold was removed.  The exercise had several applications.  The first was to listen closely to direction and do exactly what one was told.  The second was how to communicate effectively.  But also, the contestants had to have a surrendered heart and will, willing to listen and do exactly as they were told.

We talk a lot about surrender.  Surrender has no preconditions.  No expectations.  When we surrender to the will of the LORD, then we are willing to accept any and all conditions which the LORD so desires.  Yesterday, we saw the first step of sacrifice is total surrender.  This was pictured in Isaac and the ram.  It pointed to our LORD and Savior being bound prior to his crucifixion.  Now, we see through Paul a clearer picture of the heart in surrender.  We saw the will in Isaac, the ram, and Christ.  Now, we see the heart of the matter.  If the LORD can get us to the point where Paul came, He can do much with our lives.  It is a simple question.  But it comes, oftentimes, with hard answers.  Paul was a Pharisee, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. He was a Benjamite.  Concerning the law, a zealot.  If anyone would have a hard time ministering to the Gentiles, it would be someone like Paul.  When he asked the above question, it was not limited to the gospel.  When Paul asked that question, it was for the rest of his life.  Oh, that God would bring us that that point!