New Year, New Vision
“What is it?!” they said to each other as a bright light from Heaven pierced through the clouds overhead. Confused and afraid, they wondered at the magnificent splendor of the great light. Sometime before this light ever appeared, Saul had received permission from the high priest to journey to Damascus to deliver letters to the synagogues, which gave him unrivaled authority to arrest anyone professing to be a follower of Jesus Christ (Acts 9:2). Saul set out on his journey with a singular vision fueled by anger, bitterness, hate, and the threat of persecution towards any disciple spreading the message of whom he believed was a false Messiah (Acts 26:11).
It was about noon when the great light, apparently brighter than the sun (Acts 26:13), appeared in the Syrian sky, forcing Saul and his companions to the ground (Acts 9:1-9; 22:6-11; 26:9-20). Because of the light’s brilliance, Saul and his comrades lay flat on the ground, unable to stand, as Saul seemingly had a one-way conversation with someone on the other side of the light. It wasn’t until Saul said, “Who art thou, Lord?” that his companions had some idea about who was on the other side. Saul would later tell them, and one King Agrippa (Acts 26:9-20), the words uttered by this divine voice. The voice said to Saul, “I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (Acts 9:5-6). When the words were spoken, and the light disappeared, Saul’s companions lifted him up and guided him by the hand into Damascus (Acts 9:8). Saul of Tarsus–the persecutor of Jesus’ followers, the once confident student of Rabbi Gamaliel with a singular vision to persecute Christians–was now blind.
The new year is often accompanied by time spent with family, vacation’s end, recollections of days past, resolutions, and revelations. The new year is also a season for opportunity, a season for something new, a chance to receive from God a new vision for our families, ministries, churches, and communities. This year, for the first time in our church’s history, we are launching a second campus. We rejoice at the prospect of new souls being saved and new communities receiving the Apostolic message. At the same time, we are launching mirrored services at our main campus with the hope of creating space for new converts to experience Pentecost. These campaigns are the result of a Pastor who is burdened with a new vision in the new year to reach new people.
On the road to Damascus, Saul received a vision from Heaven, which resulted in his vision being changed. For a season, Saul was literally blind. Later, we read that when Ananias appeared before Saul, he regained his sight, as depicted by scales falling from his eyes (Acts 9:10-18). I believe that during this season of scales, God was teaching Saul that new vision comes from God. God knew that Saul had to have a Damascus Road experience in order to see something new. Saul’s story is a dramatic depiction of what God is willing to do to impart fresh vision. However, Saul’s story is not unlike some minister, pastor, or church leader who, out of necessity, have had a dramatic encounter with God, resulting in a fresh vision that permanently shaped their perspective of God’s work. God’s motive for Saul, who became Paul, was to open the eyes of the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; 26:18). In order for this to happen, Paul had to physically experience blindness.
Like Paul, there comes a point in every believer’s walk with God where we are blinded by ambition, blinded by tradition, or blinded by past failures (or successes). Are we to think that God is unable to deliver us from blindness, physically or spiritually? God forbid. God can give us fresh vision with dramatic flair, or he can give us fresh vision following prayer and intentional reflection (Luke 18:35-43). Paul thought it was his job to oppose Jesus, and he was supported by the high priests in this endeavor (Acts 26:9-10). Interestingly, Paul’s former mission of Christian persecution took him into strange cities. Paul, explaining to Agrippa his mode of persecution against Jesus’ followers, states, “And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities” (Acts 26:11). Although initially misinterpreted by Paul, it's as if God was preparing him to reach where no Jew wanted to go.
With fresh vision, Paul would become a Gentile evangelist (Acts 9:15). With fresh vision, Paul would establish churches in places no devout Jew would dare approach. With fresh vision, Paul would preach Jesus even in strange cities. With the new year upon us, what can we do with a fresh vision from God? Who can we reach with fresh vision from God? To what capacity can our churches extend with fresh vision from God? This year, we have an opportunity to do God’s work, not in a misguided and misunderstood manner, but with a fresh perspective. My prayer is that God would open our eyes to the possibilities that lay before us and that God would deliver us from the former season of scales so that we might embark on a God-appointed journey in this new year with a new vision. Although the mission doesn’t change, God can grant us fresh vision to reach people in places that we never imagined possible.
Dr. Matmon Harrell
South Carolina District BTB Director
Dr. Matmon Harrell serves as the Associate Pastor of Aphesis Church in Columbia, SC, and the South Carolina District Building the Bridge Director. He is a 2011 graduate of Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy, and he is a licensed minister of the UPCI and the host of The Mindful PharmD Podcast. In 2023, he launched the Building the Bridge Podcast to amplify Apostolic leadership and address matters important to the Black/African American community.
