Devotional - March 15, 2004

Balaam had an experience whereby a talking donkey saved his life. You see, Balaam was strong-willed, singular-minded and determined to do God's work to the best of his ability. God, however, had an issue with Balaam and sent an angel ahead of him to oppose him. It seemed he intended to do things his way, in his time instead of doing it God's way. (Nu 22:21-35)

This encounter between an angel sent from God, Balaam and his donkey tells me a lot about knowing and doing God's will. For example, it's obvious that God expects his children to do exactly what He says when He says to do it. It's also apparent that God uses whatever means is necessary in order to get our attention and speak to us when we're going the wrong way. Case in point: a donkey was more discerning and obedient than his master, so God spoke to Balaam through him.

There's no way to know for sure if it was pride that drove Balaam so recklessly, but I surmise it was. I wonder how proud he was when his servants saw a donkey more spiritually discerning than their master. After that encounter, I imagine Balaam had to get new servants in order to stop the flow of jackass jokes using him as the brunt. Embarrassment however, was the least of Balaam's emotions. When God opened his eyes, he saw how close he came to losing his life and for a moment at least he learned humility.

Are you daily gaining wisdom that comes as a result of following God with the right heart attitude or are you having close encounters with God who is trying to stop or slow you down? One thing for sure, if you're a Christian and intend on using tunnel-vision as you do your work, you better make certain God is in the tunnel with you.

1 Developed from Read the Bible Thru ( Nm. 22:21-23:30 Lk. 1:57-80 Ps. 58:1-11 Pr. 11:12-13 )
2. Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society