Today’s Readings: Psalm 122; Numbers 23:11-26; Matthew 7:1-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-6; Psalm 129
I love the exchange between Balak and Balaam as recorded in today’s reading from Numbers. Why do I love it so? Well, that passage gets at one of the challenges some of us have in our relationship with God. You seem Balak comes into the exchange with the prophet Balaam with a very specific outcome in mind. He wants to use Balaam (and by extension, God) to get an outcome he had already pre-determined: he wanted to use the prophet to reign down curses on his enemy. Unfortunately for Balak, a problem arose. The prophet he engaged had a little something that Balak forgot to factor in: integrity. Balaam refused to say or do anything that God had not instructed him to do. As a result, Balak’s plans fell apart – and God’s plan thrived. Of course Balak isn’t the only one to try to approach God and try to manipulate God for his or her own purposes. All you have to do is flip on the television or radio and you’ll hear politicians trying to use God for their personal gain or see athletes talking about how God had blessed them so they could defeat their “enemies”/opponents. All of this reminds me of how difficult it is for we human beings to allow God speak for Godself without superimposing our own ideas and agendas on the situation. Today I would invite you to explore your life to see if there are places where you have acted like Balak and projected an outcome that you are trying to force upon God. If so, remember Balaam’s words to Balak – “all God speaks, and only what God speaks, I speak” – and then stop talking and start listening to God and see where that guidance leads you. Til next time…
I love the exchange between Balak and Balaam as recorded in today’s reading from Numbers. Why do I love it so? Well, that passage gets at one of the challenges some of us have in our relationship with God. You seem Balak comes into the exchange with the prophet Balaam with a very specific outcome in mind. He wants to use Balaam (and by extension, God) to get an outcome he had already pre-determined: he wanted to use the prophet to reign down curses on his enemy. Unfortunately for Balak, a problem arose. The prophet he engaged had a little something that Balak forgot to factor in: integrity. Balaam refused to say or do anything that God had not instructed him to do. As a result, Balak’s plans fell apart – and God’s plan thrived. Of course Balak isn’t the only one to try to approach God and try to manipulate God for his or her own purposes. All you have to do is flip on the television or radio and you’ll hear politicians trying to use God for their personal gain or see athletes talking about how God had blessed them so they could defeat their “enemies”/opponents. All of this reminds me of how difficult it is for we human beings to allow God speak for Godself without superimposing our own ideas and agendas on the situation. Today I would invite you to explore your life to see if there are places where you have acted like Balak and projected an outcome that you are trying to force upon God. If so, remember Balaam’s words to Balak – “all God speaks, and only what God speaks, I speak” – and then stop talking and start listening to God and see where that guidance leads you. Til next time…
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