I know what you are thinking, but hold on for just a second because my mind is blown as well.

My entire blog has been journaling my walk with God while He continuously refines me and rips the scales from my eyes. I have written about my encounters with various religions, trials, singleness, grief, and as Shirley Caesar would say, “YOU NAME IT!”.

I have had multiple cups of coffee at the time of writing and apologize for potentially losing credibility here. ha

I have genuinely learned over the years that ‘God is true and every man a liar’ (Romans 3:4). While I grew up timid and shy, I found my voice after getting saved and was no longer afraid of standing up for myself or my beliefs, knowing if God is for me, what could stand against me? I have gotten in way too many arguments with nonbelievers out of ignorance and my no-quit personality. If I know something is true, I have to stand up for it no matter what. I have lost people in my life, gained people, lost them again, but God has never once failed me. He continues to draw me near to Him and teach me His truth.

If you are a reader of my blog, you know I have fought many people and am not afraid of bashing a bible over their heads. You are also aware of my singleness and that not many people make it as far as biblical stamina goes. I can be extremely intense in certain subjects, and my faith is one of them (insert scary face emoji here). Not many people can handle me, and my dad has told me he would be afraid of me if he were a young guy. I take some things too seriously or I’ll never find what I’m looking or waiting for because it does not exist. I knew this could not be true, but started questioning… until I suddenly met my special friend, Ryan. We are very different, yet very similar, and I have found someone whose intensity matches mine. This is refreshing. We cannot scare the other off with our conversations but instead run toward it because we are free to say what we want without fear of anyone running away with a dust trail behind them. For the first time in my life, I am free to be my complete self with someone and not feel like I have to walk on eggshells. For the first time, I have someone who believes similarly to me (where others told me they would never exist), and we have REAL discussions. For the first time, I have someone I talk on the phone with for HOURS about the broadest range of topics you could think of.

All of this to say we have similar beliefs, but he has said I am further along in my journey. I may have walked with God a little longer than Him, but it does not change the number of questions and instead creates different ones. I like this because we all come to God differently with different stories that God uses to exhort and reprove us. While God may have been teaching me this over here, he has used Ryan to bring up questions I never considered. His story and background may differ from mine, but we are running toward Jesus, bringing a different perspective and journey.

A few nights ago, Ryan mentioned an article he read stating Saul’s name was never changed to Paul by God. (He also mentioned we previously discussed this, and I had no recollection whatsoever. I am pretty good about remembering every biblical discussion I have ever had.. ha) This added confusion to what this meant for other details in the bible if what we are taught was not actual scripture.

I want to point out that I did not overreact to this information. If you know me, you understand what a big deal this is. hah!! (Never forget the water baptism…)

Instead, I immediately grabbed my bible, flipped to Acts, and read the conversion of Saul. I continued reading and was in complete shock to find my friend was correct. Acts 9-Acts 13 all mention Saul. He is not mentioned as Paul until chapter 13, verse 9 which states, “Saul (who is also called Paul)”. After this sentence, he is called Paul. As you continue reading, it is written as Saul again, and in chapter 22, Paul retells his conversion. After that, it goes back to calling him Paul.

Scripture never once stated God changed Saul’s name to Paul. This blew my mind as I always assumed it to be the physical representation of Saul’s spiritual conversion.

I sent the article to my dad and joked that he would be walking in my room in “10, 9, 8…”

He took a little longer than that, but sure enough, my door opened, and in walks my dad who questioned where I found this article, adding it did not change anything about the whole counsel of God or the fact that Saul and Paul were the same person. I replied that my thoughts never changed toward God or what it could mean, but my mind is blown and that I learned something new. I was excited to learn this little-big fact because I would have never thought to ask! I’ve read Acts multiple times, but God had me focused on a subject over here. I like talking to someone with a different background raising questions I never considered because it makes me research things I never thought to.

Obviously, I needed answers FAST for my sanity and my dad’s and found out that Saul is his Hebrew name, while ‘Paulos’ is Greek and probably written by Luke, the physician. The accounts were probably written by different people and translated through that language. The bigger picture we all have to understand is whether we trust God and His word or not. We either believe all of scripture is the inspired word of God, handwritten by men through the power of the Holy Spirit, or it is not. We are to test everything against the word of God and should never be ashamed to ask questions as that is how we learn.

I’m sure this nugget of information is well known for some people, but I am pretty excited to have a new fun fact. It is also helpful for future arguments with nonbelievers aware of this, and I will be prepared and ready to give another reason for the hope in me.