The story of Balaam’s donkey emphasizes how hard headed we can be when the Lord is trying to get our attention. When king Balak sent for Balaam to come and curse God’s people, the Israelites, Balaam sought the Lord, and the Lord told him not to do it. Later, the king sent for Balaam again and promised him great riches to come and curse the people. Balaam again sought the Lord who then instructed him to go to the king but to only tell him what God had to say. On the way, the angel of the Lord stood in the way and was ready to kill Balaam, but only his donkey could see it. Three times the donkey avoided the angel of death, and three times Balaam beat the donkey for not obeying him. If fact, Balaam was ready to kill his donkey even though the animal had never done anything like that before. Then God gave the donkey the ability to speak. Still, Balaam was clueless as to what was going on. He argued with his donkey rather than realizing that God was the cause of the problems. God had to open Balaam’s eyes to the spiritual realm before he understood God’s message.
How often do we “beat the donkey” when in fact God is trying to get our attention through difficult or uncomfortable circumstances? Maybe the Lord’s is trying to get our attention about something in our life that needs to be healed or needs to change. Maybe the Lord is trying to get our attention about a person to whom we need to minister. Maybe the Lord is trying to get our attention about the fact that the world needs to know He is God alone, and He has chosen us to be His instrument. May we learn from Balaam to recognize His voice before He needs to send a donkey to talk some sense into us.
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