Every now and then you find a story in the Bible which actually makes you laugh. Balaam and his donkey is one such story. Here’s the gist of it. Balaam is going on a journey, but “God was very angry with him when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him” (Numbers 22:22). Three times the angel of the Lord stood in front of Balaam’s donkey. All three times the donkey could see the angel, and so all three times the donkey re-directed it’s path out of fear. But all three times Balaam was oblivious to the angel who was blocking his path, and so all three times he whipped his donkey for changing courses. After the third beating “The Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?'” A talking donkey is kinda funny, but the next part is definitely funny.
“Balaam answered the donkey, ‘You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.'” Not only did the donkey talk, but Balaam answered him! If I were riding a donkey who suddenly spoke to me, answering the donkey would definitely not be the first thing that comes to mind. But Balaam does answer his donkey, and then the Lord opens his eyes and he sees the angel of the Lord standing in his path. The angel admonishes Balaam for beating his donkey and Balaam repents and is sent on his way.
After I stopped chuckling about Balaam answering his talking donkey, it got me to thinking about how many times I act like Balaam. I have a plan and I’m sticking to it, no matter how many angels the Lord puts in my path. Subconsciously I become oblivious to what’s going on around me because I’m so focused on myself, my plans. I’m sure the same is true of you as well. Sometimes we need a talking donkey to get us back on the path that God has for us.
