FMF: Brave

Five Minute Friday: One word prompt; Five minutes of uninterrupted, unfiltered writing.  However, I never time myself.  Why censor what is from the heart?

BRAVE

I've been likening myself to Saul/Paul lately.  If you don't know the story, Saul was one of the leaders against all those who followed Christ.  He was a murderous and hateful individual.  One day as Saul was traveling to Damascus where he is going to seek permission to arrest any Christians and take them back to Jerusalem to stand trial, the lord literally opens up the sky and speaks to him:

He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” --Acts 9:4

Saul had such a great responsibility in the construction of Christianity all over the world that the lord asked him personally "What the heck are you doing?"  God then makes him blind and tells him he must go see Ananias in order to see again.  Saul is obedient and sure enough scales fall from his eyes and he could see again.

Saul was converted to Paul and became one of the foremost leaders of the Christian church preaching to everyone about Jesus Christ.  The thing is, no one believed him.  Here we have an awful human being saying he was now following Christ.  He was persecuted for his beliefs and his life was even threatened.  He eventually ended up in jail because of his undying faithfulness to the lord.

Now I personally am not a murderer by any means...and I'm not saying I'm a saint either.  My point is that God took a horrible beast and made him one of his own.  God loves everyone and anyone can be changed in God's love.  Even me.

Paul preached to those who didn't believe him.  That's pretty brave of him.  He stood up against all odds to show his love and commitment to Christ, and he never backed down.

I know right now a lot of people are looking at me saying I am "just acting."  They don't believe that I am a changed person.  They don't believe that my life is now dedicated to my love of Christ and my obedience to God.  As an earthly being, this is difficult to face.  As a spiritual daughter, God gives me the bravery I need to continue on because I ask for it.

Paul preached the gospel to many nations and is seen as one of the most important people in the bible and all because he just wouldn't stand down to the people who did not believe he had changed.