THE AUTHOR

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ.  Romans 1:1

Most historians say that Paul was born around the time Jesus was a toddler.  When Jesus was two, Paul was being rocked to sleep in his mother’s arms.  His birth into the very era of the time of Christ was not to be significant to him for several more decades.  Though he couldn’t know it, he was created to live in a time of history which framed his calling perfectly.

I have heard some say, “I was born before my time.” Or, “I should have been born a hundred years ago.” What they mean by that is this; they believe their lives are ill-fitted for this present time.  They feel out of step and truly believe that they would more fully thrive in another era.  Perhaps you feel that way today.

None of us can fully know the plans of God.  Our vision of the role we play in the kingdom is short sighted.  We push one domino over and are often blind to the many dominoes which fall over way down the line because we lived to give the first one its push.  Paul, who spent his childhood unaware that he was a contemporary of the Messiah, studied the Torah like so many Jewish boys before him.  The routines of his life did not reveal the powerful storylines that lay ahead of him; his persecution of Christ followers, his conversion, and his passionate witness to the Gentiles that would eventually cost him his life and change the world.

There is no such thing as having an insignificant part in history.  Our births have been planned by a divine strategist for a specific purpose on the kingdom’s timeline.  Each child of God should sit up straight and grow wide-eyed at the realization that life is precious, and ordered, and prolonged by a God who plans for Apostle Paul-sized destinies.  Just because we can’t see the breadth of our calling doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.  For many of us, only history will pull back the curtain wide.

I was chosen by You to live in these perilous times, the possible end of days before You come for Your bride.  That is no mistake.  By your mercy, reveal my role so that I don’t waste time.  Amen