One of the real benefits of having my mother and father-in-law living in Queensland is that they often share amazing tropical food with our family. 

One time they managed to fit a whole box of unshelled macadamia nuts, that they bought directly from a farm near Brisbane, into their luggage on a flight down to Sydney.  A whole box of macadamia nuts!  We were in unadulterated nutella heaven.

 That is, if we could only crack the little things!  Macadamia nuts must be one of the smoothest, refined nuts there are, but their shells are designed to defy cracking.  They are small, round and hard, which means that as you bring a hammer to bear down on them, even if it is a sledge hammer, they simply slide and roll out from underneath.  You end up chasing them around the table, and potentially hammering your own thumb!

 Since my wife grew up with these creamy, cheeky nuts, she knew what to do.  A quick search on eBay located the tool that we needed—a nutcracker, complete with a koala-shaped handle to prove that it could efficiently crack Aussie nuts.

 I tried it a few times when it arrived, but I always seem to completely crush the nut to bits.  I needed a tutorial from my personal trainer from Queensland.  

 “See there are two points on every nut that is connected by a thin line,” she patiently showed me.  “This line is the seam along which the nut will crack open perfectly.  If you position the nut so that the point of the nutcracker is perfectly aligned with the small point, you will have your desired macadamia nut in no time.”  

 She was absolutely right!  I have been painlessly cracking nuts ever since.

 There are times when people seem to be spiritually hard nuts to crack.  To the early church in Jerusalem, Saul must have been one of the hardest.  How can you win the heart of a Pharisee who is literally breathing death into the faces of the people in your church family?  Yet, even though Saul may have appeared from the outside to be incredibly hardened towards the gospel, Jesus knew the point at which He could crack open his heart with His love.

 “Saul had taken a prominent part in the trial and conviction of Stephen, and the striking evidences of God’s presence with the martyr had led Saul to doubt the righteousness of the cause he had espoused against the followers of Jesus. His mind was deeply stirred. In his perplexity he appealed to those in whose wisdom and judgment he had full confidence. The arguments of the priests and rulers finally convinced him that Stephen was a blasphemer, that the Christ whom the martyred disciple had preached was an impostor, and that those ministering in holy office must be right.

 “Not without severe trial did Saul come to this conclusion. But in the end his education and prejudices, his respect for his former teachers, and his pride of popularity braced him to rebel against the voice of conscience and the grace of God. And having fully decided that the priests and scribes were right, Saul became very bitter in his opposition to the doctrines taught by the disciples of Jesus.” AA pp112,113

 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Acts 9:3-5

 “Saul understood the words that were spoken, and to him was clearly revealed the One who spoke —even the Son of God. In the glorious Being who stood before him he saw the Crucified One. Upon the soul of the stricken Jew the image of the Saviour’s countenance was imprinted forever. The words spoken struck home to his heart with appalling force. Into the darkened chambers of his mind there poured a flood of light, revealing the ignorance and error of his former life and his present need of the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.” AA p115

 Jesus had beautifully and effortlessly cracked open the heart of Saul to reveal a heart and mind that was exquisitely open to the gospel.  However, even though it took a pointed and personal revelation straight from heaven, Jesus still brought His church into the process of bringing light to and spiritually shaping this embryonic disciple who was going to become one of the most effective and persecuted Christian missionaries the world has ever seen.

 “Many have an idea that they are responsible to Christ alone for their light and experience, independent of His recognized followers on earth. Jesus is the friend of sinners, and His heart is touched with their woe. He has all power, both in heaven and on earth; but He respects the means that He has ordained for the enlightenment and salvation of men; He directs sinners to the church, which He has made a channel of light to the world.” AA p122

 Jesus also enlisted the encouragement and leadership development skills of Barnabas.  To learn more about the forgiveness and grace that is greater than all the evil that we have ever done, He led Saul out into Arabia:

 “When the mind of man is brought into communion with the mind of God, the finite with the Infinite, the effect on body and mind and soul is beyond estimate. In such communion is found the highest education. It is God’s own method of development. “Acquaint now thyself with Him” (Job 22:21), is His message to mankind.” AA p126

 It was not long before He would unleash the Apostle Paul on the world.

 Never underestimate the ability of Jesus to crack the hardest of hearts!  And never feel that you are just an ordinary disciple.  You never knew how Jesus will change the world through the people that you bring under the direct influence of the world’s greatest Nutcracker!

 The book of Acts is drenched with the Holy Spirit.  Reading it is like taking time to play out in the tropical rain!  Read the full stories for today in:

Acts 9 ESV
Acts of the Apostles “From Persecutor to Disciple”
Acts of the Apostles “Days of Preparation”

 Invite your friends to join this journey with you!  You can follow this journey on Facebook too.