Why did Paul have to start his ministry running for his life?

Les explains that after Paul met the Lord on the road to Damascus, was stricken blind, received food and sustenance, regained his sight, and proclaimed Jesus as the Christ in the synagogue, that message alone was no longer sufficient. God had further revelations to give Paul, so He could not leave him with only that kind of message. Then word came that people were ready to put Paul to death—Jews who understood he had turned coat on them—so he had to flee for his life, being let down over the wall in a basket. Les points out that right from the very beginning this whole life of suffering and fear began, and Paul says in Damascus that the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison desirous to apprehend him, and through a window in a basket he was let down by the wall and escaped his hands. Les calls it a way to start a career, right off the bat having to run for his life, and says it was all part and parcel of getting Paul ready to take the Gospel of Grace.