Unveiling God's ShineSýnishorn

The apostle Paul’s encounter with divine light was catalytic in his life. It initiated a change so profound that a man hunting Christians with intent to kill was transformed into one ready to lay down his life for Christ. When Paul describes the event that completely reoriented his life in Acts 22, brightness defined the moment, “a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. And I fell to the ground…And since I could not see because of the brightness of the light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me…” 

The shock of the intensity of the shine initially left Paul in darkness—blind, stumbling and dependent—but over time, the shine enabled him to see with a clarity that altered his understanding of Israel’s story, of the part Jesus played within that story and of his hope for the ultimate fulfillment of all God had promised to his people. Paul’s letters testify to his transformation from blindness to one who saw with spiritual vision. The blaze of light that humbled Paul on his way to Damascus must have been forefront in his mind when he wrote to the church at Corinth: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). Paul realized that the light that initially blinded him physically had enabled him to see spiritually. 

Paul likens the creative word of God in Genesis with the Word that awakens our hearts to understand the truth of the gospel—the glory of God seen in the face of Jesus. The shine lit up Paul’s interior world, emanating through mind, soul and heart. When we pray the blessing of Numbers 6:22-27, “May God’s face shine on you,” we also mean, “May God’s face shine in you.” May the shine change you and enlighten you and embolden you as it did Paul.