God Speaks Through a Donkey!
May 6, 2009
by Duane Careb
President RVchurchesUSA
Recently, a friend shared an incredible “blessing” through which he said, “God spoke to me. It’s as though I heard His voice just as clear as I hear yours right now!”
I must admit, I was taken by surprise on that announcement. Admit ably I processed through my friend’s comments with some skepticism and confusion. I asked myself, “Does God audibly speak to me – to us?”
To be honest, I’m aware when God often “prompts” or nudges me into His will – but I haven’t heard His audible voice in my ears. Rather, God uses the voice of others to bring His message to my heart where I begin the process of validating (even testing) His leading in my life.
You may refer to God’s “speaking” to you as doors that have been clearly opened or closed much the same as experienced by Balaam (a magician) in the book of Numbers found in the Bible’s Old Testament.
The Israelites were traveling through Moab on their way to their promised land flowing with milk and honey when Balak, King of Moab, summoned Balaam to invoke a special curse upon the Jews (Numbers 22: 4-6).
Numbers 22:12 recalls God’s command to Balaam not to respond to Balak’s invitation to curse the Israelites for they were a blessed people. Like many of us, Balaam decides to curse the Israelites for a fee but faces three clearly “closed doors” while riding a donkey along the way to Moab (Numbers 22:20-27). Note that at that point he did not “hear” God’s voice and was oblivious to His presence. He, like us at times, was suppressing God’s intervention in His disobedience. Balaam even resented that intervention when he began beating the donkey for responding to God’s will. It’s as though he possessed determined opposition to obeying God.
Finally, God actually empowers the donkey to “speak” to Balaam (Numbers 22: 28-30) causing him to “hear” God’s explanation and purpose for blocking the road to Moab (Numbers 22: 31-34).
No, I have never been spiritually challenged by the words of a donkey but I certainly have “heard” God speaking to me through other fully-devoted Christians in my life. It could be a family member, friend, co-worker, small group member or ……. You get the idea, don’t you?
I use three criteria to help me discern God ‘speaking” to me when looking for His leading in my faith walk with Jesus: a) search His “Word” (Bible) for direct application, b) consult other trusted Christians for Godly advise and encouragement – God “speaking” through them – and c) through prayer and earnestly seeking God’s will, “listening” to my heart by sensing a peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:4).
It’s imperative that all three of these criteria line up for me. I know then I have “heard” God’s voice – He has spoken to me!
Be assured … God “speaks” to us daily – albeit it not from a donkey’s mouth. I encourage you to listen to God’s voice – and become obedient to His will.
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Being that Balaam was a magician, I’m sure he was used to seeing or experiencing some pretty (what we would call…) strange things. However a person like me would probably end up in an asylum if a donkey were to speak to me. So although I am aware that God does talk to people….through other people and even perhaps “animals” or some other source like in the case of Balaam…I also think that the way he ultimately communicates with us is relative to the individual.
From my personal experiences I can say with certainty that God does indeed speak with us. Sometimes however it is so subtle that we often mistake his inspiration for our own. I’ve come to know the difference. Since over the last couple of months…I just happen to come upon a wealth of information that I never knew, nor did I learn…at least not in the conventional manner. I just knew.
I got saved recently and since that time the information has just kept pouring in. Some times I receive information backwards. That is…I receive answers before the questions have even been formulated. Its a wonderful feeling and yes…like Balaam sometimes he communicates by simple intervention. God works in mysterious ways… and what is true for you may not be true for me… so I wouldn’t debunk your friends’ saying that God spoke to him. It is very possible! The only scary thing i think is to be sure that it is indeed God!…because spirits can play tricks on us sometimes…and they capitalize on our humanness and our inability to discern the difference between good spirits and bad….because they are all from the same source and generally can do and communicate some of the same things….the one true deciding factor is that a bad spirit would never declare Jesus Christ as lord and Savior! So challenge the spirit as the bible asserts to make sure that it is of God,…but otherwise be vigilant because most of us miss the most divine experiences through our ignorance and like Balaam sometimes our stubbornness and natural rebellious nature.