When Paul fell to the ground on the road to Damascus, he was overwhelmed by a light brighter than the noonday sun and a voice that broke open his entire world. In that moment, he expected total clarity, a divine download of purpose, instruction, and direction. Instead, he heard something unexpected: “Rise and enter the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”
This short command reveals a profound truth—God’s guidance through others. Watchman Nee writes that the Lord “did not tell Paul what he was to do, but somebody else would do so.” From the very first day of his salvation, Paul discovered that God often works through the body, not just the individual.
Paul’s First Lesson in the Body of Christ
Before he was Paul the apostle, he was Saul the persecutor—zealous, brilliant, confident, and absolutely self-sufficient. If anyone believed he could interpret God’s will on his own, it was this man. Yet the moment Christ confronted him, the first instruction He gave was not a theological revelation or a personal mission statement, but a directive to wait for another believer to show him the next step.
This is astonishing.
The risen Christ—who could have explained everything right there on the Damascus road—chose instead to delegate the task. He sent Saul into the city blind, humbled, and dependent, waiting for a man he had never met. As Watchman Nee notes, this was not a bureaucratic formality. It was the principle of the body, revealed on day one.
Watchman Nee writes:
“The Lord used someone else to tell Paul… Though Paul is to be a vessel mightily used by the Lord, the Lord nevertheless uses other people to help him… Let us never think we do not need to depend on others as though we are to get everything directly from God alone.”
Paul’s conversion was not only his introduction to Christ; it was his introduction to the community of believers as the necessary vessel of God’s guidance. This early experience shaped his entire ministry, including his later teaching on the church as one body with many members.
Modern Lessons: How We Hear God Through Each Other
If the greatest apostle did not receive all spiritual instruction directly from God, how much more should we remain open to God’s guidance through others?
Here are several ways this plays out in our lives today.
1. Wise Counsel That Clarifies What We Cannot See
Often we feel stuck—unsure whether our desire is from God, our ego, or our fear. A trusted believer, someone grounded in Scripture and prayer, can sometimes see the situation more clearly than we can. God uses their perspective to steady us, redirect us, or confirm what we’ve been sensing.
Many of us have had moments where someone speaks a word we weren’t looking for, yet it lands with unmistakable clarity. It is as if the Spirit hands us a missing puzzle piece through the mouth of another.
2. Correction We Could Never Offer Ourselves
Saul needed correction as much as instruction. Yet the Lord did not correct him privately; He sent Ananias. Sometimes another believer sees where we’ve drifted—or where we’re blind—and God chooses to use their courage and love to bring us back.
This is why Nee warns against believing we can “solve all problems singlehandedly.” Lone-ranger Christianity is not biblical Christianity.
3. Encouragement That Strengthens the Weak Places
Pain, grief, doubt, and setbacks can cloud our spiritual perception. God often sends someone to lift us, pray with us, or remind us of His promises. Through fellowship, we find ourselves renewed in ways solitary prayer cannot always accomplish.
This is not a failure of faith. It is how God designed the body to function.
The Importance of Fellowship: We Are Not Built for Isolation
If Paul needed Ananias, we should not be ashamed when we need brothers and sisters around us. Spiritual independence sounds noble, but it is often a mask for pride. God resists the proud—and He resisted it in Saul by sending him into the care of another believer.
Fellowship is more than a social nicety. It is spiritual architecture. It is the way the body breathes. It is God’s preferred channel for comfort, instruction, discernment, and sometimes rebuke. Without it, we become people who believe God must speak only to us, which is a dangerous and lonely place.
Watchman Nee’s wisdom remains timeless: God does not encourage us to follow others blindly, but He does warn us not to adopt the lofty attitude that we can walk with Him without the help of others. We find God’s guidance through others when we live connected, humble, discerning, and willing to listen.
A Closing Reflection
Paul’s story reminds us that when God interrupts our lives, He rarely hands us the full plan. He gives enough light for the next step—and often, that light shines through another believer. The question is not whether God still speaks, but whether we are willing to receive God’s guidance through others, even when it humbles us, stretches us, or requires us to wait.
Fellowship is not optional. It is the means by which we encounter Christ through His people, just as Paul did on the very day he met the Lord.
Further Reading & Reflections
If today’s reflection stirred something in you, you might appreciate exploring related themes that deepen the journey of faith, healing, and spiritual transformation.
• Recommended Outside Resource:
Learn more about Watchman Nee.
• More Reflections:
Read other reflections on this blog.
About Mark J. Molinoff
Mark J. Molinoff is a novelist, acupuncturist, and student of Scripture whose writing explores the intersection of faith, mystery, and the ways God shapes the human heart. His books and reflections weave together ancient wisdom, personal experience, and a love for uncovering how God speaks into everyday life. When he’s not writing, Mark and his wife run a well-established acupuncture clinic in Raleigh, where they’ve helped thousands of patients over the past two decades.
To discover more of Mark’s writings, visit:
Focus Keyphrase: When God Speaks Through Others
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