⁷The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. ⁸Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. ⁹And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Often Christians speak of “seeing the Lord” working in our lives in various ways. Even, we sometimes say, “The Lord spoke to me.” In doing so, we are using anthropomorphic terms to speak of the spiritual working of the Lord in our everyday lives. We see by faith, not actually seeing as one would see a chair or another human being. We hear Him speak to us in our spirits, but that is not the same as hearing another person’s voice which we can record objectively. We have become so accustomed to thinking and speaking like this that we can sometimes misunderstand or misapply Scripture.

What Paul heard on the road to Damascus was an audible voice; even the men with him heard it. If you were there with a voice recorder, you could have been replayed it over and over again. The voice was of such a nature that when hearing it, it completely neutralized and overwhelmed the men’s ability to speak. One thinks of noise-canceling headphone technologies today; such is the sound of the Lord’s voice—all others are canceled unless the Lord allows.

What Paul saw, on the other hand, was not seen at all by his entourage. What they did see was Paul thrown to the ground. There is no indication that they understood the voice they heard, or even if they heard Paul’s voice. They did know that he was blinded by the experience. The experience so profoundly affected Saul that he reflexively fasted from food and water for three days! And he remained blind for those three days!

Saul’s experience was unique. The 12 disciples saw many miraculous things, including above all else, the resurrected Lord with the nail prints in His hands and His wounded side. They experienced the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit and great works of healing. They were personally led along gradually in the faith journey, drawn willingly to all that Jesus said and did. They became convinced that He was the Christ, the Son of God, and they believed as a result.

Saul, on the other hand, was antagonistic toward the Lord; he did not willingly seek Him. The man was not gradually led along, nor was he convinced from Christian preaching about Jesus being the Son of God. His conversion was against the spiritual grain, a complete reversal, dramatic, instantaneous, and undeniably miraculous. In his conversion, he was being prepared for a life of hardship in serving the Lord he once persecuted. He was to become the apostle to the Gentiles. As such, this miraculous conversion was unique.

Lord, You saved me for a purpose also, and I commit to living out that purpose.