Transforming an Ass into an Asset

UV 1005/10,000 Transforming an Ass into an Asset Then 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?” Numbers 22 v 28 Very often in our lives we become as blind as Balaam the prophet that we do not see what the Lord has placed in our paths to prevent us from going that way. We become as stubborn as an ass, if not more, stuck and set in our ways that the Lord needs to cause unusual, signs, circumstances and people and sometimes even the equivalent of a donkey to communicate to us and so open our eyes. Balak, the king of Moab wanted the prophet Balaam to come and put a curse on the Israelites. Balaam knew of the Abrahamic covenant promise of God, “ He who blesses you will be blessed and he who curses you will be cursed.” Sensitivity, discernment, faith and obedience is what distinguishes a man from a beast like an ass. Scripture says that folly and madness is bound up in the heart of every man. Even receiving a whipping will not drive it from us but if we prick up our ears to constantly listen to what the Lord is speaking to us through the Word, through other people, through circumstances and through even nature and beasts, we will be transformed from being an ass into an asset for God and people. We will be transformed being a beast into the best for it is only the letter “a” that separates beast from best and that a stands for attitudes of sensitivity, discernment, faith and submission to God’s will. Balaam knew that he could not do what was clearly not the will of God but he prevaricated and told the official messengers of Balak to tarry a while as he sought and discerned the will of God. The next morning he discerned the permissive will of God to go with them. Since Balaam was more stubborn and insensitive than his own donkey, the Lord had to teach him His pleasing will through the turn of circumstances. The donkey saw the angel with a drawn sword blocking its path and hesitated to go forward only to be beaten by its master. Thrice it happened: the first time the donkey went off the path onto a field. The second time, the angel stood in a narrow passage between two walls and consequently Balaam’s foot got crushed against the stone wall. The third time, the angel stood in an even narrower place with no room to turn. This time the donkey gave up and just lay down. Often the Lord gives us such warning that we must heed at the earliest or suffer some form of injury, loss or harm. After many such painful learning experiences, I made a covenant with the Lord, “ Whatever You want me to do, just tell me and I will do it.” Today, even if my foot or my toe dashes against a stone, I take it as a warning to re-examine whatever I am doing and make course corrections to follow the pleasing and not just the permissive will of God. Unseen and unknown to our senses, the Lord’s presence is always moving ahead of us, removing wilful barriers, neutralising wanton blunders and pointing us the direction in which we should move. Our spirit needs to be tuned to the Holy Spirit to discern clearly the will and purpose of God in every single move, decision and plan of ours. In today’s context, it might not be a donkey that speaks to us but it might a flat tyre, a bounced cheque, a word of warning or counsel from those who know better or so on. Prateep V Philip