Listen to the Donkey!

Numbers 22:28-31

28Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”

29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have [e]abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”

30 So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever [f]disposed to do this to you?”

And he said, “No.”

31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face.

Quickword: Listen to the Donkey!

When you have time, I want to encourage you to read this narrative in the book of Numbers, chapter 22. The main character Balaam decided to travel with the Moabites after being told by God not to go. After going back to God, Balaam was allowed to travel ( bonus point) God will allow us to do some things in his permissive will that are not in his perfect will. On his way, the donkey that Balaam is riding upon sees the angel of the Lord in their path. You see this angel was an avenging angel, carrying out the justice of God. The donkey tries to avoid the angel. He first turns into a field and Balaam tries him to get back in course by striking him. The donkey then turns toward a vineyard with walls on each side, the donkey seeing the angel of the Lord pushes up on one side of the wall crushing Balaam‘s foot and Balaam strikes him again. Then the angel of the Lord went further and there was no room to turn to the left or the right and the donkey sat down and Balaam struck him for the third time. Then the Lord open the mouth of the Donkey and the donkey spoke to Balaam and ask him what have I done to you that you have struck me three times. Then Balaam replied because you have abused me, if I had a sword I would kill you. Then the donkey replied you have been riding me since you aquired me, am I in the habit of doing this to you and Balaam replied no. If you haven’t caught it yet Balaam is a human and he is having a conversation with a donkey. God can use whatever or whomever He wants to bring glory to his name. Then the Lord opened Balaam eyes and Balaam came to and understanding of what was going on. We need to listen to the donkey…because we are often so consumed with doing what we desire that….

- We miss seeing the angel of the Lord

- We fail to recognized those who have been with us are doing a new thing to protect us

- We miss the Grace and Mercy of God when we are outside of his perfect will.

Today, evaluate what you are doing; be sure that you are not simply operating in the permissive will of God but striving to be in His perfect will. Second, if there are people who are doing something out of the ordinary, don’t abuse them, like Balaam did to the donkey, find out what is going on, they maybe attempting like the donkey, simply trying to protect you. Lastly, let’s not become so unaware of the Grace and Mercy of God that we miss God’s presence. We have been given things and opportunities that we don’t deserve (Grace), while at the same time, the punishment of our sins have not been carried out against us (Mercy). Listen to the donkey and God may open our eyes to what’s going on around us when we failed to strive to be in God’s perfect will.