Sensitive To The Irrational

One of my favorite stories is the story of Balaam. Numbers 22-24 There are a couple of things that happen here which tickle me to death. It makes me realize how creative God is in defining a path for us.

In case you didn't read Numbers 22-24 I will retell one of the parts that just gets me. Balaam was being summoned by Balak to curse Isreal because Balak knew he wasn't strong enough to defeat them fairly. Balaam heard from God and was told not to do it. Later God tells him to go with Balak's men but to only do as God tells him to. The next morning Balaam gets up and heads out on his donkey, Balaam left on his own and did not wait for God. This made God a little upset.

Now the irrational begins. God sends an angel to stop Balaam perhaps even kill him if he did not stop. The funny thing is Balaam's donkey saw the angel and flipped out, not once but three times, each time the donkey was beaten by Balaam. Eventually God "opened the mouth of the donkey: and the donkey spoke to Balaam saying something like "what have I done to you, why are you beating me?" Talk about being sensitive to the irrational, Balaam responded to the donkey as a matter of a fact the two had a full conversation. If my dog was like, "hey, what's up?" I would have been admitting myself to a psych institute or something, most definitely would not have carried out a conversation. But God used the donkey to convict Balaam and save his life.

Here comes the other irrational thing. Balaam has told Balak that he will only do what God commands him to but goes with him anyways. Balak still brings Balaam with hopes that he will curse Isreal. After altars and sacrifices are made Balaam recieves the words to say from God. Balaam opens his mouth not to curse Isreal but blesses them. If I were Balak I would have been torqued and he was but he was stupid too. Then Balak brings Balaam to another spot and tells Balaam to try again, and again he blesses them and tells Balak that Isreal cannot be cursed by God because He has already blessed them. I would think that would be enough to give up but Balak parades around with Balaam and Isreal keeps getting blessed. I just laugh every time I think about Balak's stupidity and stubbornness.

Is God going to speak to us through a donkey? Most likely.... no. But God does choose irrational things sometimes to guide us. Quitting a job to become a missionary in a third world country is completely foolish in the flesh but wise if God commands us to. Telling somebody you don't know about Jesus just because you were prompted to by the Holy Spirit doesn't make sense to the natural. God is always trying to get us out of our box. He is trying to get us out of the comfort zone so we have to rely on Him. Learn to discern the voice of God and get out of your comfort zone, you may be surprised at what God does in a situation. The more we get out of the box and just do as God leads us, the greater our faith will be, as I stated in a previous message "and by works faith was made perfect" When we do what God REALLY tells us to do, (even if it doesn't make complete sense,) we can expect to grow in faith and relationship with our Lord.

God bless.