Completely Confused!
“Saul preached with such power that he completely confused the Jewish people in Damascus, as he tried to show them that Jesus is the Messiah.”

Acts 9:22

This is one of those “wait a minute, what does that mean?” Bible verses. Can you imagine saying to your wife or husband on the way home from the Sunday morning church meeting, “That was a powerful sermon, it confused everybody.”

Successful communication happens when someone is able to speak and someone else is able to hear. If there is no speaker, there is no communication. If there is no hearer, there is no communication.

If I were to wander in to a convention of brain surgeons and sit through one of the sessions I’m quite sure that I would go away with very little if any useful information. To say the least I would be greatly confused. There is more to hearing than simply hearing the words. I must be ready and able to process the words and apply them to my own understanding of truth.

When Saul, who was later called Paul, preached to the Jews in Damascus, he had only been a follower of Jesus for a few days. He must have been bubbling over with enthusiasm after his “Damascus Road Experience.” Paul preached with power, but the hearers were confused. I can’t recall this description of Paul’s preaching later in his life.

The Bible does not say that Paul did something he should not have done, but when I mix my own enthusiasm with the leading of the Holy Spirit I can cause more confusion than communication.

What I must do is pay close attention to the Holy Spirit not only for the initial direction, but also for every step and turn along the way. The leading of the Holy Spirit is not a list of basic guidelines that I apply to my life; it is rather a moment by moment speaking to my every word, thought and step.

Human enthusiasm can easily take me away from the Holy Spirit’s path for my life!