Aspiring Missionary Delia Pruitte
In this passage in Acts, Saul has his infamous encounter with Christ – an encounter that forever changes the course of history. The Lord showed me the significance of verse 5. If Saul was kicking against the “prick”, that means somewhere in his heart, Jesus had called to him before!
The prick represents two things. First, it is an object, a thing, a person, an idea, you are resisting. It is something uncomfortable that angers, upsets, disturbs, or scares you. It is something you want to repel. At the same time, the prick also represents something that beckons you.. It is something that wants to have control over you. It has something you want or need. It draws you in spite of yourself, and the more you fight it, the stronger the pull.
For instance, I have a two-year-old niece who sometimes likes to “kick against the prick”. I remember once, I had a bag of banana chips. My niece LOVES banana chips, and right in the presence of her mother, without even asking, simply declared, “I WANT THAT” and plunged her tiny hand right into the bag, drawing out a chip. Her mother stopped her before she could cram it into her mouth with two simple words: “Say please.”
BAM! There goes that prick. My niece looked at that delicious chip, and looked back at her mother. It got closer to her mouth, and her mom stopped her again. “Say, ‘Please’.” She couldn’t do it. She could not bring herself to say it! As a result, she had to put that chip back, still refusing to say please.
But…this is what we do to God. Like Saul, we kick against the prick. Saul came from good, well to do Jewish stock. But you have to be some kind of messed up inside when you find yourself beating, jailing and killing people…and thinking you’re doing it for God. I can just imagine Saul at the stoning of Stephen. I can feel the “prick” he felt listening to Stephen’s last words, and the “prick” of shame he must have felt watching the people, sick and twisted with faces full and anger and hatred, descend upon an innocent man, hitting and biting and stoning him. The “prick” of guilt he felt when the people laid their coats at his feet, essentially congratulating him for condoning such an act. I can hear the “prick” of his conscience and of Jesus’ voice calling to him while he sat there…”Saul, you know this isn’t right. There is no way this can be right.”
But in verse 1 of Acts 9, we see that Saul is “yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord”, this time extending his hunt to men and women. And while I believe that the prick was strong at that point, I also believe it took a major encounter with Christ to really shake Saul up and get his attention. All God wants, is for us to surrender to Him! He doesn’t want to have to knock us down and publicly shame us to get His point across, but He loves us SO much, and wants His will accomplished SO badly, He WILL do it! That’s not a cruel God, that’s a loving God!
There are a couple of ways people will try to surrender to the prick. Some will give God some things, but not everything. Others will deny that they have more to surrender to God. Some try to reason with God about why they need to keep that one thing they are holding on to or will giving it to God, and then take it back as if He won’t notice. Still others will Ask God to take it from them by force. But the best – and only – way to surrender to the prick is by totally surrendering to God; giving Him everything, good, bad and ugly.
God had to literally knock Saul down to the ground to get his attention. And when Saul completed his preparation process, Paul emerges – the preaching and evangelizing machine who wrote more than half of the New Testament. Paul, who single handedly started more churches than any of the other apostles. Paul, who surrendered to the “prick” and brought the gospel to thousands and thousands of Gentiles.
Saints, we all have a choice. Perhaps you don’t want to fast or pray more than you already do, and you really don’t feel like going to church even more than you do now. But…you still feel that prick; that pulling and tugging from your spirit man. He says “you know you need this. You know this is the right thing to do. You know there’s glory to be had on the other side of this”.
God has want we need! Seek the Holy Ghost like never before. There is GLORY on the other side of the prick!