Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily upward into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand. And he told them, "Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God's right hand!" (Acts 7:55-56)

I've been wondering what that must have been like for Stephen. He's one of the few men in the Bible who saw the glory of God. What an experience that must have been. Was he terrified? Or was he in awe? I'm inclined to think that he was filled with joy and awe and praise at the sight, not fear, because Luke mentions that the Holy Spirit was upon him. I noticed, too, that Stephen gazed upward. He didn't see the raging mob around him. Or if he did, he wasn't focused on them because he saw something much better.  I think, to get the full effect of the Holy Spirit, we have to be gazing upward, and not at the problems around us. The joy that Stephen must have felt made the death he suffered worth it. He even prayed for Jesus to forgive them the sin of his murder. One witness at his stoning was a young man named Saul, who would become the apostle Paul. At the time he was persecuting Christians left and right, but I wonder if Saul was mentioned here because later on his memory of the event must have affected him deeply.