ARRANGED AND HANDPICKED

Acts 22:10 – TPT – “So I asked, ‘Lord, what am I to do?’

“And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about all that you are destined to do.’

Acts 22:14,15 – Then he said to me, ‘The God of our ancestors has destined you to know his plan and for you to see the Holy One and to hear his voice. For you will be his witness to every race of people and will share with them everything that you’ve seen and heard.

Translating from one language to another can prove to be quite tricky and sometimes misleading. These two verses today will describe what I am talking about. In verse 10 Jesus is answering a question from the Apostle Paul that describes God’s calling on Paul’s life that began to be revealed to him in that first encounter. Look closely at what Jesus said to Paul, “Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about all that you are destined to do.” The Lord used the word destined when speaking about His ultimate plan for Paul’s life. This word in the Greek New Testament is tasso and is often translated as ‘arranged’. So it appears that Jesus has an arranged, step by step, plan arranged for Paul’s life. He also told Paul to go on to Damascus and you will be told what you are to do. The call of God was not Paul’s idea or his greatness, it all flowed from the greatness and wisdom of God.

In the next passage of scripture the word destined is actually a different word in the Greek New Testament, it is the word procheirizo. This word is often translated as “handpicked”. So the Lord handpicked Paul to know the plan of God, to see Jesus, and to hear His voice. Actually this could be said of all of God’s children, we were each handpicked by the Lord to know His plan, to see Him with our spiritual eyes, and to hear His amazing voice. Just as Paul’s life began that day with His supernatural encounter on the Road to Damascus, our life begins when Jesus steps into our lives. We live in a special time today and the Lord is doing unusual things. He chooses the least likely to know Him and to tell His story. Maybe your arranged, handpicked life is about to get started.