Conversion

Today's scripture speaks of Paul's dramatic conversion. He went from one of the biggest hater's of Christians to one of the biggest evangelizers of Christ! One thing we know and count on as lay apostles is Jesus' promise of conversion of our loved ones. There is nothing we want more than a quick turnaround! We want everyone to know Jesus like we do through the Volumes, right? One thing I have learned as a lay apostle is God's timing, not mine. We are each on our own journey, and no two journeys are alike. Only God knows when the "aha" moment will occur in each soul. In Lessons in Love, Anne a lay apostle has this to say about conversions:

"Now it must be said that one of the greatest graces Jesus allows is sudden conversion. These St. Paul-like experiences must be the delight of the saints in heaven. I believe Jesus does this when He needs service from the person NOW. He perhaps has tried to shift the soul gently but the soul is stubborn in his resisting the plan of our beautiful Jesus. This, my friends, I believe to be the most loving of actions. A soul bounced from his horse, metaphorically speaking, surely can have no doubt that his service is of urgent importance to the Kingdom and his resistance is doing damage to the Kingdom. Clearly, the humble soul rests in the latter thought. Even in situations like this, there is evidence of the Lord’s gentleness. Jesus surrounds the soul with grace, sending in help from both heavenly and earthly sources. The soul is guided very carefully afterwards into the service intended for him. I think that a soul experiencing the Lord’s correction abruptly will sometimes not feel that it happened gently in terms of the impact it has on his life. Here is why. When someone turns on the lights suddenly and a person sees the error or falseness in which he has been living, that person might be tempted to run for cover. My friends, this feeling of being exposed is inevitable. 2Everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. 3 For this reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden places will be proclaimed on the housetops (Luke 12)."

Are you afraid to have the lights turned on abruptly? I used to be. I have made so many mistakes in my life, it's painful when they are revealed. But, like a bandaid being ripped off a wound, it only hurts for a few seconds. Once we accept we are only human and admit to our mistakes, it creates within us the desire to do better. To love more; to accept weakness in others and ourselves; and, make better decisions. Decisions for Christ, not for the world.

Thank you, Lord, for continually ripping the bandaids off of me. Please continue providing the graces I need to deal with the initial sting until all is revealed.

God bless,

Bonnie