Acts 22:6-15
And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. 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. And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

Salvation is often a very humbling experience. Here was Paul acting in his own will, opposing God with what he was doing, defying and rejecting Christ. But then the glory of the Lord shines upon him, he falls to the ground, and he hears from Jesus. And so Paul comes to the end of himself. In the aftermath of being exposed to the unfiltered glory of God, Paul is unable to see and must be led by the hand. He must wait those three days in his own darkness before Ananias comes and restores his sight. But then isn’t that something that afflicts him for the rest of his life? He talks in his letters of issues with eyesight, writing in big letters because he probably can’t see well. And wasn’t all of that a result of this experience? It marked his life, in a way. But how much more clearly he could see Jesus now. How much more clearly he saw himself, the truth of his own heart, his perspective on himself, his purpose in this world.

Such an encounter with Jesus will surely have a significant and profound effect on a person. Surely it is a humbling thing to be exposed to the glory of God—and then to be overwhelmed by His great grace, mercy, and love. What is coming to God but first coming to the end of ourselves, finally seeing clearly our own lacks, our own shortcomings, our own smallness and weakness, and then recognizing the truth of Jesus and what He has done for us.

May our own lives be permanently marked by our own salvation experience. Maybe it took some moment of brokenness where we were humbled before God and we are left with some physical reminder of who we were before and who we would be after our own encounter with the Lord. Maybe it took a great step of faith that cost us something that was important to us. Maybe it wasn’t so dramatic as Paul’s experience and we stepped gently into the pool of grace and let it wash over us and save our soul. Whatever our unique experience, we can’t go on unchanged after encountering the love and grace of Jesus personally. But may we go forward, as Paul did, with a humility, a commitment, a desire to serve the one who powerfully and completely saved us from our sin and from ourselves.