The Goads

 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Acts 9:5......"Some of us 'kick against the goads' for a lifetime, all the while believing that we are surrendered to the will of God." A.W. Tozer

Acts 9 details the conversion of the Apostle Paul. Known as Saul before this, he was a dedicated Pharisee and defender of the Jewish faith. He had zealously been persecuting, imprisoning, and even killing Jews who had become followers of Jesus Christ. He had been present at the stoning of Stephen, an eyewitness to not only his death, but to the powerful witness of the reality of Christ as he died. He had heartily approved of it. After witnessing Stephen's death, his persecution increased, and he was traveling on the Damascus Road with the full intention of arresting and jailing every believer he found there. On the way, he was waylaid by the risen Christ, who spoke the words of Acts 9:5 to him.

It seems curious that Jesus would talk about Paul kicking against the goads, the pricks of the Holy Spirit. If anyone was dedicated to a cause, a cause he believed to be of God, it was Paul. Yet the Holy Spirit had made a deep impression upon the heart of Paul through the manner of Stephen's death, but surely to the witness of those believers he'd been persecuting. There was something about it all that continued to bore into his heart and spirit. Something real. Something undeniable. He fought against it by increasing his efforts at attacking His church. Yet deep within, he knew that the faith and witness of those he'd been tormenting was real. He couldn't get away from it. Kick though he might, the pursuit of the Spirit grew ever stronger. Paul thought he was surrendered to God. It took the appearance of Jesus Christ on that road for him to "see" that he wasn't. That he was anything but surrendered. How like Paul might we be? Where are we like him today?

It is so easy for us to say we're yielded to Him and yet in so many different ways kick against Him. How many areas of our lives has He brought His Spirit to bear upon, convicting us of wrong attitudes, actions, and responses? More often than not, we find ways to put Him off or just outright ignore Him, acting like we never actually heard Him. He speaks to us about how we behave in our marriage, in our stewardship of the resources He has given us. He speaks about how we are raising up our children in Him, or more correctly, how we're not. He speaks to the manner of how we're serving Him, or carrying out our ministry for Him, or the lack of service and ministry altogether. The list is almost endless. His Spirit goads us, pricks us about it all, but we go on kicking. What will it take for it to end, and if we go on, what will be our end?

Before he met the risen Christ on the Damascus Road, Paul was not a believer, though he believed he was. Afterwards, no one in the Bible displayed a more steadfast faith than he. Where do we believe that we're fully faithful, but we aren't at all? Where have the goads of conviction been digging and we keep ignoring or denying? Two results lie ahead for us. The first is that they get more intense until we can no longer deny them, and we yield to Him and His will. This can be a painful road, but a great one, because we become more deeply His. The second is much less so. We continue to deny and grow ever harder in our resistance. Eventually we have become calloused to the goads and pricks and no longer even notice. Instead of full surrender we have chosen full disobedience, and the terrible end of it all. Which option are we, you, closer to? Where are you on your own Damascus Road?

Blessings,
Pastor O