(Acts 9:5) And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads."
Saul was persistently defiant, adversarial, and contentious. He was persecuting the Christians fiercely. He had one objective in life and that was to oppose the cause of Christ until the last Christian disappeared. But one day the Lord appeared to him, knocked him to the ground, and that is when he submitted his will to the Lord. He subsequently became the greatest witness for Christ this world has ever seen. All the energy he used to resist the Christian message was now used to promote the gospel worldwide.
It is my firm belief that there is a purpose for that strong will in what is typically know as the strong-willed child. It is easy to lose sight of that when you’re dealing with one though. The parent, the teacher, or whoever it might be gets weary in dealing with the unrelenting resistant spirit in the child. And can you blame them? They’re a challenge to raise and they can wear you down to a pulp with that perpetual wrestling of the wills. Parents can easily feel guilty, frustrated, angry, unrewarded, and a host of other emotions and feelings.
One day your child is going to change the world. But for now, your child is changing you. We are teaching our children, but don’t they teach us a thing or two? The Potter is molding me through my kids! (Jer 18:1-6; Isa 64:8) I think I’m going nuts but the Lord thinks in terms of fruit (Gal 5:22-23).
Might you be raising a Paul? (Isa 40:27-31; Phil 4:13; Mat 19:26; 2 Cor 12:10)
Louie