Good morning, today we will discuss one of my favorite stories in the Bible as we read through chapters 21-23 of Numbers.
Intruders
I’m speaking of the story of Balaam and his talking donkey.
You may think it is the idea of a talking donkey who can see an angel blocking the path. While that is interesting, that is not what caught my attention.
I was drawn to the Moabite and Midianite elders’ willingness to pay for divination.
Balak did not know what to do with this horde of people crossing his plains. He could have been hospitable and agreed to let them pass. What if they didn’t? He knew his own forces would not stand against them.
We have watched as millions and millions of migrants from all over the world passed through Mexico on their way here to the United States. Mexico allowed them to pass through, since it had no choice.
Balak was told that they would pay for any water they drank or damage they did. He could have accepted this offer.
You need a plan on how to get them to leave when you allow such enormous masses of people to come into your country. His plan was to have people who dealt in the dark arts curse these people.
Doesn’t everyone have a price?
Balak offers this job to Balaam, who, at first, seems to accept the role.
Then God intervenes and tells Balaam not to curse His people. Balaam decides to listen, but Balak ups his offer. With sagacious insight, Balaam rejected the offer. He knows he is no match for the Maker of the Universe.
They wear Balaam down and he sets out with the Midianite officials and God becomes angry and sends an angel to oppose him.
Even a donkey can see to stop when an angel of the Lord stands in his way. We choose not to notice when God is putting things in our path.
We double down, believing it is just a challenge to overcome. A donkey doesn’t have its own agenda, so selfish desires do not blind it. It sees the angel and turns. Then it lays down and only when it is being beaten by Balaam does it decide to speak up.
We often see people we love walking, contrary to God’s will. We say nothing. Not that any of us have a problem speaking, but in those situations, we don’t.
Because we make these choices, life beats us down. We don’t understand why, but the more we resist God’s demands, the more obstacles we face.
Get on board
We all need to listen to that voice in our hearts of God asking why we are beating ourselves down. Where does our strife come from? It comes from our hard heart, which is refusing to listen to God.
I lived in that denial for many years. I knew God had wanted me to serve in bolder ways than I was, but I also knew every time I accepted more responsibility in the ministry, the more I would have to overcome the attacks of the enemy. Therefore, I hid behind excuses. Not enough time, too many other obligations, not enough qualifications.
Like a complete donkey, I realized I had to listen to the Lord and do as He commanded.
We all must speak what the Lord puts in our mouths. Just like a donkey, we can trust the words are His, not ours.
If those around us continue to get us to consider other perspectives, to keep us away from serving the Lord. We need to turn aside or stop and speak up.
