2022_10_31 Insight Post- Kim Feld

If you’ve read any of my previous posts or listened in to our Bible study and prayer nights, you’ll know that a common practice of mine is to read our Bible reading plan passages in multiple translations. This helps my understanding, along with prayerfully considering what’s written and looking at commentaries. Acts chapter 26 has a verse that illustrates this point perfectly.

¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ Acts 26:14 NIV

I often use the New International Version for my first reading. This is the version I have read the most and the one I have used for most of my memory work. In this verse, Paul recounts his conversion experience on the road to Damascus for King Agrippa. The voice that Paul is referring to is Jesus, and He uses a phrase that would have been common in Paul’s day. A goad was an instrument with a blunt and sharp end; farmers would use the pointy end to motivate the animals to move. To “kick against the goads” was to resist prodding.

Let’s take a look at this verse in the New Living Translation:

¹⁴ We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will.’ Acts 26:14 NLT 

Paul was “kicking against the goads” or pushing back against Jesus’ will until he was stopped in his tracks by the blinding light and voice of Jesus. At that moment, everything changed for Paul.

This verse caused me to think of areas of my own life where I fight against Jesus’ will. Like when I’m in a conflict with someone and I don’t take a moment to pause to gather myself but instead, respond in anger. Or when I feel the nudge of the Holy Spirit to do something for someone that may be out of my comfort zone or inconvenient, so I push back against it.

God’s plan will be accomplished whether we decide to partner with Him or not. But we will never experience the fullness of the life that He’s called us to until we surrender fully to Him. Is there anything you sense Jesus calling you to that you are pushing back against? What’s holding you back?

Paul’s life did not become easy once he became a Christ-follower, yet he found his purpose. He lived with a conviction that allowed him to face any obstacle that came his way. His goal in life and in death was faithfulness to Christ.

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach