................But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles.........(Gal .2:15-16)
Paul was clearly one of the greatest Apostles that ever lived. He spent his post conversion years travelling all over the world to preach the Gospel of The Lord Jesus Christ to nations that others could not dare to venture. Before his conversion, he had been a notable Jewish scholar, leader and Pharisee. He was very zealous and also very knowledgeable in the law.With this zeal and passion, he had persecuted the Church thinking he was actually pleasing God! By divine arrangement, he was to later have a life changing encounter with Christ on his way to Damascus in Acts chapter 9. After his conversion he became a mighty vessel in God's hand to spread the good news, save souls and deliver people. He also went on to write about 70% of the books in the New Testament. The passion he had that was channeled negatively against the work of God became what he used to pursue God's purpose for his live. Why was this so? The answer is found in the passage above. He concluded that the Lord had divinely separated him from his mother's womb to preach the gospel to the gentiles.This was clearly Paul's assignment on earth, though the devil tried to hinder this in the earlier part of his life. In essence, it was clear to Paul that even before he was born, God had concluded every thing about his purpose here on earth.
The Lord had told Jeremiah in Jer. 1:5 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you: Before you were born I sanctified you and I ordained you a prophet to the nations'
Dear friend, I have some good news for you. No matter the point you are now, God is still able to pick you up and lead you in line with His plan for your life.Even if you have channeled the passion in you in the wrong way in the past, all is not lost. As long as you have genuinely repented of your sins, and surrendered your heart to Jesus, He can still sort you out and make something beautiful out of your life. What the devil does is to look into people's lives when they are outside Christ, and try to hijack their heart's passion and dreams to direct it into negative things. Blessed be the name of the Lord who is more that able to lift us up and turn our lives around no matter where we have been in the past. All He seeks is genuine repentance in our hearts. Who else could use a one time murderer like Moses to deliver a whole nation form the clutches of Pharaoh, and also use him to write the first five books of the Bible? What of the case of Rahab, a one time prostitute, who went on to be in the lineage of Christ the Saviour (Mt1:5). This could only be God!
Dear friend, refuse to be tied down by your past mistakes and negative experiences, look unto God who is more that able to bring beauty out of your ashes. You past has no reason to determine your future, except you allow it. As Mike Murdoch puts it, "your past is in the tomb, while your future is in the womb".
As you go about your affairs this week, why not talk to God and ask Him to lead you and use every desire, burden and dream within you for His glory and Glory alone. As you say this prayer from the bottom of your heart and believing it would be so, you will begin to see Him do great things through you in Jesus name.
