Why is it you assume God could never use you? Why do you dismiss yourself from a greater calling on your life? Is it because you’ve never felt really good at anything? Is it because you are just a nobody? Is it because you’ve failed before, and you really wouldn’t want to fail God? Did you know the single most read author in the world likely felt exactly like you? The human who has likely had the greatest impact for Christ could have never imagined being used to tell the world about Jesus. His past was so wrong, there’s no way he could have ever made it right. But God … God changes everything. He changes your story and he changes your trajectory. He changes the story you tell yourself about your past and he uses it for your future. He changes who you think you are to align with who you were really created to be. You were created to be HIS. His girl. His masterpiece. His beloved. But, if you’ve spent your whole life feeling like you’re no one special with no special purpose to fulfill, it’s hard to see what could be possible for you. That’s when God plans a head on collision on your course. The most read author, the one with the greatest impact for Christ, the one with a past of being 100% wrong, was Paul. Paul, the author of over half of our New Testament. He was the one God chose. Paul writes in Galatians 1: 1, “I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority …” and that’s exactly right. No one would have chosen Paul to teach about following Jesus. He was the most unlikely candidate by human standards because of his past. Do you know about Paul’s past? His name was originally Saul. He was born just a few years after the crucifixion of Jesus, and as a young boy he went to school to study the law of God. He knew all the laws and he was passionate about ensuring everyone kept the law. But, there was a growing group of people experiencing freedom from the law, and those people were known as Christians. During Jesus’ time on earth, he stated he came to fulfill the law so that everyone who believed in him would be deemed as worthy and approved. He set people free from an impossible law they could never be perfect enough to fulfill. But Saul didn’t agree with this new found freedom. He, along with the other Pharisees, feared what people would do without the 613 commands they had been bound by. So, Saul fought. Literally. He fought Christians. Acts 8:3, “Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.” Acts 9:1, “Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers.” His mission was to put an end to this freedom Jesus had offered. As an enforcer of the law, freedom threatened to ruin everything. At about 30 years old, Saul finds himself on a road to the town of Damascus where he planned to find every Christian and bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. But God … Acts 9: 3-9, “As he (Saul) was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Sal! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?’ ‘Who are you, lord?’ Saul asked. And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’ The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind.