Godly Plans, Godly Goads (Part II of III)
By Chris Voss
Jeremiah 29: 11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” The almost aborted baby girl remained in critical condition for three months. Believing she would not live a year, her doctors placed her in a foster home for high- risk children. At the foster home, a woman who was caring for the baby, took her home for a visit and the woman’s daughter fell in love with the baby girl. Shortly after that, the daughter adopted the baby girl.
Fast forward 23 years and the baby girl has grown into a vivacious, intelligent, loving young lady. She represents a pro-life group and can sometimes be seen on television at press conferences. She holds no grudge against her birth mother and offers compassion, not judgment, to any woman who has had an abortion. Her spiritual witness is an eloquent testimony to God’s holy hand being on her life.
Surely there was a divine purpose and plan for such an incredible story to take place. How can we understand God’s will, God’s plans for our lives? What can God’s Holy Word tell us about how God makes His will known to us?
In the twenty-sixth chapter of Acts, Paul is describing his incredible Damascus road experience to the Roman governor and King Agrippa. Paul reveals that one of the things Jesus said to Paul on the Damascus road was, “It is hard for you (Paul) to kick against the goads.” (verse 14) What are goads? And what do goads have to do with God’s plans for the Apostle Paul.
In Paul’s day, when the ox was first yoked and the ox rebelled against any authority over it, a long pole with a sharp spiked end was used to jab at the heels of the stubborn animal so that it would obey ( Not for wives). The ox would slowly get the message that when he was disobedient and unwilling to follow his master, the master would use this goad to get the ox to do what was needed and right.
Next time: What “goads” have to do with God’s plans for the life of Paul, and you and me, considered, in the conclusion to “Godly Plans, Godly Goads.”
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Like on Facebook: firstchristianchurchdonnatexas. Chris Voss is a pastor at First Christian Church, 317 S. Main, Donna.