{"id":6218,"date":"2006-05-19T08:56:00","date_gmt":"2006-05-19T08:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/simplethoughtsfromscripture.wordpress.com\/2006\/05\/19\/acts-2614-kicking-hard-against-gods-will"},"modified":"2006-05-19T08:56:00","modified_gmt":"2006-05-19T08:56:00","slug":"acts-2614-kicking-hard-against-gods-will","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2006\/05\/19\/acts-2614-kicking-hard-against-gods-will\/","title":{"rendered":"Kicking Hard Against God’s Will"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kicking Hard Against God\u2019s Will<\/h2>\n

And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, \u2018Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.\u2019<\/span><\/span> (Acts 26:14 ESV)<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Wiktionary, a goad<\/a> is a long, pointed stick used to prod an animal forward. You can see the goad being used by the second man in the illustration above. Apparently, the goad was used to keep the animal moving in the direction of the master. The animal would kick, because the goad would hurt. Kicking back against the goad could cause the animal to be wounded. But the animal kept moving in the direction of the master.<\/p>\n

Apparently, Jesus is telling Saul that you can\u2019t kick against God\u2019s will. By persecuting Christians, Saul was kicking against God\u2019s will. So God uses a blinding light as His goad. It is quite possible that during Saul\u2019s conversion on the road to Damascus, that he saw oxen being goaded along the road. In this case, the statement would have made sense.<\/p>\n

So why does Paul mention this statement in this verse and not in Acts 9 or 22? First of all, it is a Greek and Latin proverb. Considering Paul\u2019s audience, this phrase would have been relevant. Is it a problem that this phrase is mentioned here and not in Acts 9 or 22? No. Just as someone might reveal more of an account depending upon the audience, the same would be true with Paul in this case. He had no reason to mention more in his previous examples. Yet, on trial in a Roman court, with an audiance who spoke Latin and Greek, this statement would make sense.<\/p>\n

But what does this statement mean to me? It means that sometimes I can\u2019t fight God\u2019s will in my life. God will keep shaping me and moulding me. This is the picture God uses in the Old Testament \u2013 moulding and shaping.<\/p>\n

But sometimes God keeps me straight in His direction, even though I may try to kick against His will. God will use a goad, and it will hurt as I keep kicking. When I learn to be obedient to God\u2019s direction, the goad won\u2019t need to be used in my life. When I decide that I can go my own direction, because I think I know what direction is best for me, then God has the right to use His goad on me.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Kicking Hard Against God\u2019s Will And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, \u2018Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.\u2019 (Acts 26:14 ESV) According to Wiktionary, a goad is a long, pointed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2886,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,6],"tags":[903,1172,10],"class_list":["post-6218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-acts","category-simple-thoughts","tag-god","tag-kick","tag-simple-thoughts"],"yoast_head":"\nKicking Hard Against God's Will<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kicking Hard Against God's Will is a simple thought reflection on how we as Christians can sometimes kick hard against God's will.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2006\/05\/19\/acts-2614-kicking-hard-against-gods-will\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kicking Hard Against God's Will\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kicking Hard Against God's Will is a simple thought reflection on how we as Christians can sometimes kick hard against God's will.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2006\/05\/19\/acts-2614-kicking-hard-against-gods-will\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jim Erwin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/revjimerwin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-05-19T08:56:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim Erwin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@revjimerwin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim Erwin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2006\/05\/19\/acts-2614-kicking-hard-against-gods-will\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2006\/05\/19\/acts-2614-kicking-hard-against-gods-will\/\",\"name\":\"Kicking Hard Against God's Will\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-05-19T08:56:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2006-05-19T08:56:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#\/schema\/person\/d60794d59235a0279dec26398d994dcb\"},\"description\":\"Kicking Hard Against God's Will is a simple thought reflection on how we as Christians can sometimes kick hard against God's will.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2006\/05\/19\/acts-2614-kicking-hard-against-gods-will\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2006\/05\/19\/acts-2614-kicking-hard-against-gods-will\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2006\/05\/19\/acts-2614-kicking-hard-against-gods-will\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kicking Hard Against God’s Will\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/\",\"name\":\"Jim Erwin\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#\/schema\/person\/d60794d59235a0279dec26398d994dcb\",\"name\":\"Jim Erwin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70772a6e533e4bcbd0ac0e0af2d62ff1?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70772a6e533e4bcbd0ac0e0af2d62ff1?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jim Erwin\"},\"description\":\"My name is Jim Erwin. 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