Adapted from Day 105 from The Book of Mysteries by Jonathan Cahn

“In the ancient world,” said the teacher, “there was born a Jewish child to an affluent family. His parents gave him two names, one Greek, one Hebrew. The one name could be translated as ‘small’ but comes from a root word meaning to pause, to desist, or to stop. His other name came from a root word that meant to ask, to seek, or to inquire. As the child grew up, he rarely paused or desisted from anything. Nor was he one to question his course. He was headstrong and passionate, intellectual and educated, arrogant even. But one day all that would change. He finally paused before a blinding light that caused him to fall to the ground.”

“The apostle Paul?” I asked.

“Yes. The name Paul, or Paulus in Latin, comes from the Greek root word pauo, which means to pause, to stop, to deist, to cease from one’s course…even to come to an end. So the name whose name was linked to pausing and stopping finally pauses and stops. God caused him finally to stop, to desist, to come to an end of himself. So his whole life, from the moment he received that name, was leading up to the moment that name would be fulfilled.”

“And what about his other name?”

“In Hebrew, “said the teacher, “the verb to ask, or to ask for, is sha’al, from which we get the name Shaul, or Saul.”

“Paul and Saul,” I said, “the man born to pause and ask.”

“And what happened,” asked the teacher, “right after he paused? God called to him, ‘Saul, Saul…!’ In Hebrew that’s like saying, ‘Ask! Ask!’. And what did Saul do? He finally asked the question: ‘Who are You, Lord?’. Finally, he who was born to ask, asked. For the first time in his life, he realised that he didn’t even know who God was. And only when he asked was he able for the first time to know. His whole life was waiting fo that moment. And his question was answered with the words, ‘I am Yeshua, Jesus…’ And so the life of the man who paused and asked would be changed forever. He would become what he was born to become.”

“You see,” said the teacher, “if you can’t stop, if you can’t pause enough to seek, you’ll never find anything more than what you already have. And if you can’t ask, then you’ll never know anything more than you already do. Pause that you might find. And ask that you might know. For we were all born to pause and ask.”

The Mission: Today, pause, stop what you’re doing, cease from your routine and your course, and with no preconceptions, seek HIM.

Isaiah 55:6-9; Jeremiah 29:11-13; Acts 9:1-8; Romans 1:1