The account of Saul's conversion is repeated three times in the Bible - a very significant event! Note the preconceptions of Saul prior to his conversions. What preconceptions do we hold in our minds?

Saul's encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus and his encounter with Ananias in the city caused a major paradigm shift in Saul.

Paradigm = The way an individual perceives, understands, and interprets the surrounding world; a mental map.

Stephen R. Covey writes, "If you want small changes, work on your behavior; if you want quantum-leap changes, work on your paradigms."

Saul's conversion was a huge change in direction based on a huge misconception regarding the Christians he was persecuting and Saul's knowledge of who Jesus was. Some of us have had similar Damascus Road experiences. Some of us have had less dramatic changes, yet looking at one's thinking or attitude, or behavior from one point in time to another, there may have been just as large a shift in direction, only taking a longer period of time to occur. Some say that it takes 90 days to establish a new habit. But in order to decide that a habit is worth pursuing to establish sometimes takes a paradigm shift to give it the priority to get it done. What habits are worth this pursuit and how can you create a paradigm shift to make it happen?

• Consistently staying in God's word - daily devotions, daily reading
• Consistently communicating with God - daily prayer time
• Quality time with spouse
• What others can you think of?

Consider the actions of Ananias. His faithfulness and trust in God. How much control can you give up to God and how much do you want to retain control for yourself. Consider Saul and his acceptance of Ananias. How willing are you to play the servant role rather than be the man in charge and take the credit?

A.  A NEED TO BE IN COMMUNITY

B.  A MATTER OF CHOICES

We have a choice. So how do we decide how to respond?

     PRIORITIES - We will weigh our priorities and see how this decision falls among what we deem to be important and necessary.

     NEEDS - We will consider how our decision affects our needs. How much hardship and sacrifice will I be facing with each decision?

     FAITH - Its often a matter of faith. Do we trust God even though we cannot see the path to the ultimate end? Or must we be in enough control that we reduce our risk factor to a comfortable level?

Even when we make a choice, there are degrees of choice to be made. First, we can choose to do nothing. Secondly, we could choose to act, but in the wrong direction. Remember Jonah? When God called upon him, Jonah took immediate action, but in the exact opposite direction. Sometimes becoming active is enough to satisfy ourselves that we are doing the best we can even though it may be exactly in the wrong direction. And the third choice is to actually begin acting in accordance to God's will. But here again, this action can be broken down into more than four different affirmative responses to God's calling:

a)   BIG START, NOTHING AFTER - We can start off all gung ho, ready to tackle on anything. Our adrenaline is surging and we have ideas filling our head. But very shortly afterwards, it all comes to a screeching halt and then nothing. A case in point is when Israel attempted to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem. In 586 BC, the temple was destroyed. In 536 BC about 50,000 exiles return with Zerubbabel and within one year, they begin rebuilding the Temple. It is during this time period that the prophets Haggai and Zechariah's words are written in the Bible, under the rule of Darius. It was a grand start, but then there was no construction for a period of about 15 years. It wasn't until the year 520 BC that the rebuilding of the Temple continued and in 516 BC, the work was finished. How quickly does discouragement creep in and stop good works!

b)    BIG START, DIMINISHING RETURNS - It is too often the sad truth that new Christians will begin their newly found situation in a state of high energy and excitement, but then slowly settle back into a state of no growth. After an exciting beginning, the old lifestyles and habits return and the flame ebbs to a dim glow.

c)    STARTS AND STOPS - A constant re-fanning of the flames, but then diminishing returns until something else comes in and rekindles the energy and commitment. There is no consistency.

d)    PAUL'S KIND OF RESPONSE - Continuous growth and willingness to do God's will. Not daunted by defeat, but ready to move on to the next challenge.

What makes the difference? Is it the huge impact of the experience of meeting Christ in person on that road to Damascus? I see many who have similar responses to God's calling. I think part of the answer is that those who find the ability to stay in the presence of God will find Paul's type of devotion and commitment Practicing to remain in the presence of God is a skill that is difficult to achieve, especially in the hectic pace of the modern lifestyle and the kind of pressures that daily life brings us. {A book well worth purchasing is "Practicing His Presence" - Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach, ISBN 0-940232-01-4. An excellent combination of two classic writings on the same topic. Frank Laubach writing in the 1930's and Brother Lawrence writing in the 1600's}