Balaam And His Donkey Series

So how do you seek God’s best for your life? You are obedient to His calling. I shared last week how, when I met Naomi, I sought counsel from friends on whether to marry her. Naomi was not the first girl I ever dated. There was another girl I dated before her who was very nice. However, I felt that God was calling me into missions. She did not share that call, so I knew it would not work. Could I have married her? Of course, but I would not be where I am today. The very first time I met Naomi she told me how God as calling her into ministry – we were heading in the same direction.

Obedience means you stay focused on your calling. I sometimes say to people who come in for pre-marital counseling that the person you marry will either double of half your ministry.

Get up and in obedience head for what God has called you to. As you do that he will bring blessings and opportunities into your life that you have never dreamed of.

2. See Divine Obstacles – yellow light

God eventually allows Balaam go with the messengers, but He was not pleased about his attitude. It was a reckless path certainly plan B. His greed for the wealth offered by the king had blinded him so that he could not see how God was trying to stop him. Though we may know what God wants us to do, we can become blinded by the desire for money, possessions, or prestige.

If you are driving down the road and everything is coming against you then you have to ask yourself at some point if the problem is not that the world is full of bad drivers but that maybe you are in the wrong lane.

Sometimes God will do what He did with Balaam and will "stand in the road to oppose us" if he doesn’t like the way we’re doing or handling things. He loves us so much that He tries to get us to turn around if we’re going the wrong way or to re-think things if our approach is wrong. He doesn’t just abandon us when we disobey. He keeps trying to get through to us before we hurt ourselves or someone else. If you get out of the Will of God, he won’t let you go without putting a couple of "STOP" signs in the road to try and get your attention. Problem is, if you’re already in "cruise control", you may not even see them.

Acts 16:6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia . 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

Balaam had heard but disobeyed God. It appears he’s doing the right thing but really it is compromise. He is doing it the wrong way and for the wrong reasons. So God "opposes him", and in an attempt to get his attention, sends an angel as a roadblock. The donkey sees the angel standing in the road, sword drawn - and reacts by beating her.