Musing - Do we kick against the Goads?

 Hebraic Musing - Do we kick against the Goads?

Ever heard of someone being Goaded on?  I recently read the familiar description of Paul’s conversion in Acts.  We’ve all read it many times but this particular reading caused a single word to jump out at me.  We should never sit down with the Word of God without first asking the Holy Spirit to help understand and clearly see what Scripture is trying to say.  Sometimes I have to read a passage several times and patiently meditate on it for a time, sometimes days.  But the answer faithfully comes forth. 

In this instance, the word in Acts 9:4 of “Me” caught my attention.  This is also repeated in Acts 22:7 and Acts 26:14.   We all know that Saul of Tarsus was journeying to Damascus to persecute and imprison followers of Jesus, the Nazarenes whom he was convinced were blaspheming Jehovah and corrupting the Law of Moses.  Saul’s fervent and sincere passion to defend his God came from a deep love and commitment to the holiness of the Jewish faith and temple.  He thought he was doing the right thing!

Here is Saul plodding along a dusty road in broad daylight when a bright light suddenly hits him, blinding him, and a voice addresses him saying, “Saul, Saul!  Why are you persecuting Me?” Acts 9:4 NKJV   Jesus was speaking directly to him.  What struck me was that Jesus didn’t ask him, “Why are you persecuting my followers?” which is exactly what Saul was engaged in doing.  Rather, Christ took the persecution personally.  Why?  The answer forthcoming from the Holy Spirit was that Jesus was claiming all who believe upon Him as His own.  He possesses and claims personal ownership of us.  Scripture tells us frequently in Saul’s/Paul’s later letters that we are “in Christ” and Christ is “in us.”  Christ owns us -- every bit of us from the air we breathe to the cells in our body and the life force that inhabits them.  When we claim Him, He claims us.  Jesus once taught His disciples/us that whatever they would to the “the least” of them… “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did unto Me.” Matthew 25:40.  So, Jesus took it very personal!

We are adopted.  We are part of His family, with the same Father.  Christ shares an allegiance with us that is sealed in covenant and cannot be broken.  Hence, he takes the persecution of His followers as an attack upon Himself.

There is one more part of this Scripture in Acts that is often sidestepped -- Jesus’ comment about it being “hard to kick against the goads.”  In Acts 9:5 “Then the Lord said, ’I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’”NKJV  A goad is a sharp, pointed prod used to steer and motivate cattle and sheep along, giving rise to our expression of “goading someone into it.”  Jesus was saying to Saul that when you resist the Lord’s prompting and interfere with His plan and efforts, you will find it difficult.  Saul, sitting there, blinded, had just gotten a taste of what happens when one “kicks against the goads.”

Do we “kick against the goads” that God has placed in some of our experiences?  Have we discovered that it’s just easier to trust Him and let His promptings unfold in His way and His time in our lives?  Paul found out that it was just easier to trust and go along with God’s directions through the Holy Spirit’s quiet guidance than to try to create his own path and run into difficulties and resistance.  To be sure, Saul ran into many obstacles and problems in his ministry, but those were the enemy’s doing, not God’s.  The Lord’s power guided Saul through all of them and at the same time allowed him to preach the Gospel to all he encountered, including his enemies, fulfilling his divine purpose.

How many “goads” are we kicking against in our daily walk?

Points to ponder

When we kick against the goads, do we recognize the goads are there for our benefit?

Who is goading us into stubbornness, laziness, non-compliance, etc.?  

How are we goaded by His Holy Spirit?

♫  Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me. ♫

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                            May 19, 2016

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”