Psalm 119:30 I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.

I have had many arguments with people over the years about truth. As the world sees truth, it is subjective. As I see truth it is objective. I have not been able to convince anyone of my point of view that didn’t already understand the nature of truth. I had an experience recently that might illustrate my point. Maybe.

We were driving back home from Ohio and found ourselves in a blinding rain storm. I slowed the car and turned on the flashers. I could not see more than a few feet in front of the car. The pounding of the rain on the car was thundering. The wiper blades could not keep up. The rain was relentless. I was troubled by the rain, it was so dangerous to be on the road and to stop was perilous also. I could not see the shoulder or cars behind.

Then I began to feel rain drops hitting my legs and face, as if the rain was coming through the car windshield and roof. Only a drop or two at a time but it caused me to feel my legs and face to wipe the water from my body. I was dry. It was an illusion. I knew the rain was not coming through the car. The illusion persisted and I continued to feel the rain hit my legs and face even though I knew it was nothing more than an illusion.

The mind is so powerful it can and does create its own reality. That perception of our reality is what we call truth. It is truth to us because our mind controls and creates our reality. Was it true that rain hit my body inside the car? No. Is it true that I felt the rain hit my body? Yes. What is the truth?

The truth is I cannot trust my own mind to determine truth. I have to rely on the truth to reveal itself to me.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:

Acts 9:5 And he said, “Who art Thou, Lord?” And the Lord said, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest; it is hard for thee to kick against the goads.” KJ21

Goads here in the Greek is kentron, an iron goad, for urging on oxen, horses and other beasts of burden, hence the proverb, “to kick against the goad”, i.e. to offer vain and perilous or ruinous resistance. (Vine’s Expository Dictionary)

I’ve known this for some time but today I saw it in a new light. It is so simple I have no excuse for not having seen this before. Saul, soon to become Paul, is the ox. The yoke under which he is burdened is the law. (ref. Philippians 3:6) Saul feels the goad, is driven by his Master, but due to the restrictive nature of his yoke cannot see who it is that is goading him on.

Jesus Christ is the driving force behind the law. When Saul was knocked off his horse on the way to Damascus to persecute followers of the way, Saul recognized the authority which put him on the ground, calling him Lord. Even so, Saul did not know his Lord was this Jesus whom he had never met.

I see a kind of irony in that Saul was removed from a beast of burden at the same moment that his yoke was removed from him. All Saul’s life he had been driven to this moment. His training in the law would become invaluable in his ministry. He would go into synagogues and reason with Jews from the scriptures to show them that Christ was the driving force behind the scriptures and his very life.

I can see that events of my life brought me to that appointed time when Jesus revealed Himself to me. Have you met Jesus? Are the circumstances of your life leading you to a divine appointment? Will you recognize Him as Lord?