Have you ever had one of those days where everything goes wrong? Your alarm doesn’t go off, the car doesn’t start, and then you spill coffee on yourself, all before 8:00 am! Numbers 22-24 tells us of a man named Balaam who had a day much like that.
In this story, there was an ancient Moabite king who was afraid of the Israelites moving into his land. He asked his servants to find Balaam, a pagan prophet, to curse the Israelites. When Balaam went to speak to ‘the gods,’ the one true God, Yahweh, spoke to him! Yahweh told Balaam that the Israelites were his special people, and they were not to be cursed. Balaam told the king that he would not curse the Israelites, upsetting the king greatly.
Unhappy with that message, the king demanded Balaam to come to him. Against God’s will, Balaam agreed, saddled his donkey, and started on his journey. The donkey began to act strange, running Balaam into things and eventually just sitting down. Not seeing any reason for the behavior, Balaam got frustrated with the donkey, striking it and yelling at it to move. Suddenly, the donkey speaks, “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times? … Have I ever done anything like this before?” (Numbers 23:28,30). The donkey saw what Balaam couldn’t: an angel of the LORD blocking their path! If God’s prophet won’t follow his plan, the donkey sure will.
Just like Balaam, we sway back and forth between faithfully following God and trying to live life according to our own desires. When that happens, God sends messengers through people, circumstances, and (maybe?) talking donkeys to call us back to him! Sometimes, the distractions in our lives are God-given signs that we might be heading in the wrong direction.
Questions for reflection:
- Where in your life has it been difficult to follow God’s will?
- What “talking donkeys” has God used in your life to help you follow him when you may have gone astray?