What We Don’t See

The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”

“No,” he said.

Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

-Numbers 22:30-31

Aside from old television shows, remember the famous talking horse, Mr. Ed?  We don’t hear about animals speaking very often.  Dr. Doolittle could supposedly talk to animals, (also a Hollywood creation).  But in the book of Numbers, we see God give the donkey of a man named Balaam the ability to see an angel and speak.

Balaam disobeyed God and was about to be killed by the angel of death with a sword drawn as he rode his donkey to meet Balak, the leader of Moab.  God wanted to get Balaam’s attention, making him know how important it was to only tell the words that God revealed to him, and not simply tell the Moabite leader what he wanted to hear.  Balaam couldn’t see the angel, but the donkey could.  Balaam’s beast of burden protected him by disobeying his commands, walking off the road and finally sitting down in the path.  After the donkey was able to speak to Balaam, God opened his eyes and he also saw the angel.  

I wonder how many times in our lives God is protecting us from things we can’t see?  Whether it be germs that could make us sick, or car accidents… there seem to be close calls and avoided dangers all around us.  My prayer for us this week is that God would open our eyes to his presence and protection.  May we have open ears to hear God’s voice.  And may we be courageous to tell others the message we receive.   

Please join us in worship this summer as we explore these perhaps unfamiliar stories from the Old Testament. May they bring insight and challenge our understanding of God’s work in the world… There’s trouble brewing in the Old West-ament.

God, you call us to love, even when love is undeserved.

Forgive us when our love is limited to those we think worthy.

God, you call us to run toward those who have hurt us, to work for reconciliation.

Forgive us when we cannot look past our hurt and so miss out on wholeness.

God, you call us to put aside our fear, our shame, our blame.

Forgive us when we are so focused on ourselves that we do not offer compassion to others.  Amen.