GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY vs. MAN'S STUPIDITY! -- Devotional for September 29, from "Good Seeds"

And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to deserve being struck these three times?” Balaam replied, “Because you have made a fool out of me, and if this whip were a sword I would have killed you by now!” The donkey spoke again: “Am I not your faithful donkey on which you have safely ridden all these years? Have I ever done anything to harm you?” Just then the Lord opened his eyes and he saw what the donkey had seen, the angel of the Lord standing in the road with drawn sword, ready to strike!” (Numbers 22:28-31)

One of the most unusual accounts in the Bible is the story of a dumb animal – by the name of Balaam! No, that wasn’t the donkey’s name, but rather that of her master. He was a prophet of God, but right now not a very good one. It seems Moab and Midian had heard of Israel’s miraculous rescue at the Red Sea, and feared the approach of “God’s horde” into their territories. So Balak king of Moab sent messengers to Balaam requesting he pronounce a curse upon Israel, to weaken them (vs 6). Although Balaam seemed willing enough to comply with this request (shame on him!), especially in light of the lucrative bribe that came with it, he stood by his prophetic “Hippocratic Oath,” telling Balak: “I cannot do anything, small or great, contrary to the command of the Lord my God” (vs.18). “And as His prophet,” he continued, “I am not able to speak any word but the word God puts in my mouth to speak” (vs. 38). So far, so good! But through the persistence and insistence of the enemy kings Balaam soon finds himself on the road to Moab, prepared to pronounce the curse. Then a strange thing happens, where the roles of man and beast are reversed for a moment: Balaam’s donkey becomes the prophet, speaking to her nearly speechless master words put into her mouth by God. I can see the headline now: INSPIRED CREATURE ADDRESSES DUMB ANIMAL! Here we see God allowing a man to go his own way, for a time, that he may eventually experience the absolute sovereignty of his Lord, even if expressed by the mouth of his donkey. What humiliation, to be instructed and rebuked by your beast of burden, a creature so far beneath you that you could kill it with impunity and without remorse. Someone has said, “When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself, calmly submitting to it inwardly as well as outwardly, that is dying to self.” Balaam achieved this in the end, letting go of his stupidity as he latched onto God’s sovereignty, as shown by this talking donkey. What will it take for God’s sovereignty to conquer your stupidity – and mine?