Day 101 - God speaks
Scripture focus: But my people would not listen to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own desires. Psalm 81:11-12 NIV
Balaam's story begins in Numbers 22. He starts off strong.
Balak, a Moabite king, sends for Balaam. He hopes that Balaam will use his magical powers to curse the Israelite people. Although known as a pagan prophet, it would be easy to get confused about Balaam's true beliefs. In verse eight, he tells the men that before he makes his decision, he must consult with God. Taken within the context of his entire life, most theologians believe that Balaam saw himself as a spokesman for any god.
The writer of Numbers then reports an amazing thing. In spite of Balaam's penchant to consult with any and every god made by man, and even with his propensity for moral, ethical and religious lapses, GOD appears to Balaam. Scholars insist that Balaam didn't realize this was THE GOD. Whether or not Balaam understood the nature of this God-encounter isn't really my concern. I want us to pause for a moment, and consider what actually happened.
God appeared to Balaam. God didn't wait for Balaam to get his spiritual act together. God didn't require Balaam to jump through a series of religious rituals to gain access to Him. God appeared to Balaam.
Initially, it appears that Balaam follows God's instructions - "Do not go with them."
But all is not as it appears. Soon, Balaam will entertain a second offer from Balak's minions. And although Balaam says all the right things - he obviously entertains thoughts of heading off with Balak's men. He romances his brain cravings - that part of his mid-brain screaming for attention, excitement, silver and gold, fame and fortune.
The story could have turned out so differently. When faced with a "no" from God, Balaam could have stuck with that perspective. Those henchmen could have returned two, three, a thousand times, hoping to entice Balaam to follow them back to their king. Each time, Balaam's response could have been, "No way, dude, God said no, and what God says, he means. I'm not going." End of story.
People often tell me that their problem is that they don't hear the voice of God. Some people believe that God only speaks to the "faithful" - and they claim they're not good enough or pleasing enough to hear from God. I don't buy it. If God would appear to Balaam, I believe he continues to speak to us. He speaks to us whether we have all our spiritual ducks in a row or not. He speaks to us whether we conform to all the religious traditions of man or not. He speaks to us whether we tithe or not. He speaks to us whether we're behaving in a way that pleases him or not.
I don't think our issue is with the silence of God so much as it is with our stubborn resistance to trust his voice.
How many times have we trusted in our own strength (intuition, sensing, knowledge, power, firmly held convictions, etc.). How many "Nos!" have we ignored from God? How's that working for us?
Recommended reading: Joshua 1 and 2 in the morning; Psalm 80 in the evening
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