He tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple.  Acts 9:26   The apostle Paul’s conversion and his early Christian witness were greeted with skepticism and fear.  Later when Paul went to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, they were afraid of him.  In years to come, Paul never ignored his past, but spoke of it as evidence of the mercy of God.  Like Paul, we don’t need to parade our failures or to pretend they didn’t happen.  Instead, we can thank the Lord that through His grace and power, our past is forgiven, our present is changed, and our future is bright with hope.