What If It’s Not Too Late to Change Your Story?

What one of the most radical transformations in history reveals about purpose, conviction and reinvention.

Saul was known for persecuting Christians.

Paul became one of Christianity’s most influential voices.

They were the same man.

Have you ever wondered if it’s too late to change your story?

Maybe you’re in a job that no longer fits who you are? Or maybe there’s something you’ve always wanted to try, but you feel disqualified to even start? If that sounds familiar, then the story of Saul (known later as Paul), may change the way you think about your future.

Who was Saul?

Saul was a brilliant religious scholar, respected and fiercely devoted to his beliefs. He was also widely feared. As a Pharisee, Saul made it his mission to hunt down followers of Jesus. He imprisoned them, disrupted their communities and approved their punishment. All because in his mind, he was defending the truth ... but in reality, he was fighting against it.

The Road to Damascus

One day, as Saul was travelling to Damascus to arrest more followers of Jesus, everything changed. He literally ‘saw the light’ and came face to face with the truth about what he had done. He spent the next 3 days in physical blindness, likely playing on repeat what he just learned and feeling the crushing implications of it.

Fast forward to when his sight is miraculously returned, and he begins publicly declaring that Jesus is Lord, which is the very belief he had set out to destroy. But here’s the thing: at the beginning, no one believed him. His reputation as the man who had caused devastation to early Christianity was legendary, and it preceded him everywhere he went.

Now if his story ended there, we would say it was remarkable as is—but it didn’t. Saul pressed on and over time won the hearts and minds of many believers, Jews and Gentiles alike. So much so that he’s credited with authoring almost half the books of the New Testament Bible and spreading Christianity from Asia Minor through Greece, and into Europe.

Overcoming the past to become who God created him to be

Saul went from being destroyer of community to builder of nations. It’s one of the most dramatic stories of reinvention in history. But it’s also something more personal than that. His story is a powerful reminder for anyone wondering if their past has already written their future, and it reveals three important truths about the revelation of purpose, redemption and reinvention.

1. Revelation: When It Comes, Don’t Ignore It

Sometimes revelation comes slowly, and other times it arrives like a lightning strike. But no matter how it happens, when it does you can’t unsee it. Saul thought he was doing what he was called to do, only to have it revealed to him that he was wrong. His revelation in our present-day experience would have come across something like, ”Not only are you working for the wrong employer, you’re actually in the wrong line of work.”

Whether it happens suddenly like in Saul’s case, or it happens slowly over time, revelation isn’t just a piece of communication, it’s an invitation. Now that your eyes and heart have been open to this new idea, it’s hard to ignore it. Yet many of us do. Revelation is an invitation from God to see the world differently, to see our lives differently and in so doing enter into a different version of our lives entirely.

But it is a choice: to believe or not, to enter into it or not. God will never force you, He’s given us free will to decide.

When you come face to face with a revelation, don’t ignore it, and don’t sweep it away. It just might be a divine truth that’s being communicated to you, and it might just change your life if you let it.

2. Redemption: Let Your Past Become Part of Your Purpose

Armed with his challenging revelation, Saul had to face the consequences of what he had done. People had been imprisoned because of him, homes burned, communities ravaged, and worse, people had died at his command. In light of that reality, and with the weight of the guilt and shame pressing down on him, how did he move forward?

He moved forward with humility. He didn’t deny his past actions, he confessed them, describing himself as the “worst of sinners” whom Jesus was using to show His love and mercy, so that others can see that it’s not too late for them too (1 Timothy 1:15, NIV). He didn’t flee his past, he owned it.

Now, your story may not be as dramatic as Saul’s, but there’s a two-parted key to how he handled this step that you don’t want to miss out on.

Part one is about acknowledging that your past, your mistakes, your choices, your decisions, and your experiences, have all made you who you are today, whether that’s good, bad, or indifferent. Part two is about trusting that “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28, NLT). In God’s hands all things, even your past, can work together for good.

3. Reinvention: Remember it’s a process

Saul’s journey from revelation through redemption and into reinvention was by no means easy.

No doubt in those early days, the first thing he faced when meeting people was his past. Imagine the distrust, maybe even the name calling that he received from both sides – his previous colleagues as well as the believers. The fact is, while he got a divine download about what his new direction is, the rest of the world still needed time to get caught up.

And therein lies the truth about reinvention: it’s a process, not an overnight experience. Though it may feel like an overnight transformation to you, everyone else is still working with the old version of who you were, based on years of behavioural evidence they’ve collected. You need to give the people around you time to catch up and see evidence of the change, so be patient. You sharing your revelation story is one thing, but they’re watching to see if it’s actually real.

Saul faced this too. Everywhere he went, the same stories were bandied around: “Isn’t this the same guy who put everyone in prison in Jerusalem? Why should we trust what he’s saying?” If you’re changing direction, you will face opposition from people, even well-meaning close ones as they try to bring you back to their version of you. So how did Saul do it?

He leaned into the conviction he had received from the revelation and kept doing what he felt called to do, which was preaching about Jesus. In the face of the naysayers, he was respectfully disinclined to acquiesce with their perception and kept doing the work. Because it’s in the doing, not the talking, that the evidence of transformation is built up.

If someone like Saul can do it, so can you.

It’s hard to fathom, but the same man who gave the orders to imprison and execute communities of people became the man who went on to build and expand those communities across so many nations. God took Saul’s small story and rewrote it to be amplified 100-fold, because in His hands nothing is impossible.

Saul’s story reminds us of something we often forget. Our past isn’t the final word on our lives. As long as we’re willing to listen, to change, and to step forward in faith, a new chapter is always possible.

It was true for Saul.

And it may be true for you, too.

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Amanda Stassen writes about leadership, work and the human side of building what lasts. Follow @buildwithbizu.