Numbers 22:28: “Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?'”

February 1st, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The old, radio pastor, J. Vernon Magee, observed, “it was a miracle in Balaam’s day when a donkey spoke, but it’s a miracle in our day when one keeps quiet!” Donkeys are still speaking today, but they usually only have two legs. Here in Numbers 22, the backslidden prophet, Balaam, was riding his donkey on his way to pronounce a curse on God’s people, because Balak, king of the Moabites, who feared the children of Israel, offered to pay him to do so. But God had told Balaam not to curse them.

Normally a donkey is stubborn, self-willed, and just generally ornery; but in this case Balaam’s donkey wasn’t trying to be difficult. What Balaam couldn’t see but the donkey could, was that there was an angel blocking their path, an angel put there because Balaam was still being stubborn and willful; he still hadn’t changed his heart. Balaam was acting more like a donkey than the one he was riding, and he angrily beat the poor animal because it refused to go forward. So, miraculously, the Lord gave the donkey the power of speech.

This story should remind us all that when God uses us to deliver His message, we shouldn’t get too high and mighty about it; He could just as easily have used a donkey. Nothing is hard for God and He seems to delight in doing things a little differently each time, just to keep us from thinking we have Him all figured out. If it seems good to Him to have a donkey speak to a prophet, He will. If He decides to use us to speak His message to someone, it will be because of His grace. It will never be because He doesn’t have any other options, or because we are such intelligent, gifted people. God chooses to use us because He wants us to enjoy the adventure of walking with Him. He uses us because He delights in watching His kids grow and develop into mature men and women of God.

“LORD, use us today to speak to others. Fill our mouths with words of life just as You did that humble, dumb animal.