God's Donkey

Don’t be downhearted however. If we do endure then God will give us ability beyond that which we thought capable. God can give us supernatural ability. It is at this point that the donkey starts to talk. For those that haven’t realised, this is something that goes beyond the donkey’s normal capabilities.

I know that many people talk to their pets. Some people even talk to their plants. Some people think that this is mad. I want to put the record straight, madness isn’t talking to a plant or an animal... it’s listening to it that’s crazy.

The donkey was given ability beyond its own, and if we are faithful and full of vision, then we can also be given abilities beyond our own.

Donkey 2. – Carrying the anointing.

The second donkey that I want to speak about is found in all four of the gospels. It is the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem.

Luke 19: 28-38

28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them,

30 Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no-one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

31 If anyone asks you, ’Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ’The Lord needs it.’

32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them.

33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, Why are you untying the colt?

34 They replied, The Lord needs it.

35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.

36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

38 Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! NIV

**A mouldable life**

There appears to be nothing special about this donkey. When we read the other gospels we find that it was actually tied up along with an older donkey, and both were brought, but here Jesus decides to ride on the younger. He decides to ride on the one that has not been ridden before. It has not been forced to carry and get used to a particular route before, and so it wouldn’t be tempted to try and go its own way.

I was once speaking to somebody from my home town of Biddulph who owned a farm and had donkeys. She told me of how stubborn donkeys could be. It is quite popular in the UK to have donkey rides for children at the sea side. She told me that the donkeys have their fixed path. They will walk so far up the beach, turn around and walk back again. It doesn’t matter how hard you try, you will not get that donkey to go in any other direction, or any further, than it’s normal path. If you want to go in a different direction, then you have to use a donkey that has not been ridden before.

If we want to be used by God then it is important for us to be like an unridden donkey. We can’t serve God if we already have our own preconceived ideas of where he wants to take us. We can’t use routes that we have been down before as a guide to where God is taken us as a church now.