On occasion, God chooses to cut through our defenses like a bolt of lightning. The Lord decked Paul in the middle of his journey of persecution, transforming the man and pouring gasoline on the fires of the Christian faith.

Paul described his experience to King Agrippa, his wife Bernice and Festus, the regional governor: I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, “Saul, Saul, why to you persecute me?

Brilliance of the light blinded Paul and broke his opposition to Jesus. Enveloped in darkness, Paul gained a new life mission. The Lord said: I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

May God to strike people today blind with his brilliance. We hear stories of Muslims in the North Africa and the Middle East meeting Jesus in dreams. God reveals himself in different ways to different people.

Pray for friends and family that seem too far gone—pray they break under God’s brilliance. Paul was too far gone, until a blast knocked him off his high horse. Pray for God to blind those who either actively rebel, or slump in passive indifference.

Join me in praying for the blinding of younger generations by the overwhelming light of Christ. Our world needs it now more than ever.

Acts 26 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Todd Trapani