DON’T KICK

By Rick Mathes

 

Acts 26:14
“And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

 Why do we fight hard against the process of holiness and sanctification? How much of a grip does sin really have on you and why do you allow it? The Lord wants so dearly to hug you and tell you He loves you. Yet we often refuse His invitation. How does He try so desperately to reach us? How can we receive His gently urging to be His?

The means the Lord uses is a tender and warm embrace. Can’t you just feel it? His soft touch can only come to you through the Word in essence in the Bible or in its form, in person through the Holy Spirit until His return. Just the Word, nothing more, is needed for you to do a turnabout on sin. Look to the cross and her His agonizing moans in the excruciating pain of our punishment for sin: yes our punishment. Let that sink in.

I know He loves you more than you are capable of loving. So when He pulls in the reins on your prayer requests and answers, “Not yet,” don’t fight against Him. He knows what is best for you and that is often the exact opposite of what you want. Like the bridle on a horse our natural response is to bite down on the bit and do as we choose. Sometimes a wise horseman needs to pull back sharply to let the horse know who is boss.

Since we’ve been born again we have a new family in glory and through Christians here on planet earth. Heaven enjoins with earth and His will is done according to His purposes, It is a tender parental love that too many of us have not experienced. I even welcomed “tough love” as a teenager and I didn’t even get that. I praise the Lord that I have a “Daddy” now that will take a belt to my butt when I have it coming.

Usually, apart from extreme circumstances, He approaches us with a tender admonition when we drift too far. As friends, we can meet on even ground at the foot of the cross and get our life in order, eye to eye with Him. Just one look into the eyes of that battered and bruised face, bloody and grotesque, is enough to melt any hardened heart.

All that the Holy Spirit needs to do is to gently prompt us to stay to the script, keep our focus and put a step forward toward Him and away from the flesh within us that cries out for hell. It’s a no choice situation. We must surrender and not kick against the hand that loves us.