I often find myself saying, “This is my favorite!” or “This is the best ever!” When it comes to the Bible, I read a story and think, This is my favorite story in the Bible… at least until I read the story of Esther, or about John eating bugs, or Jesus wanting to gather us under His wings like little baby chicks. Then I know I’ll say the exact same thing again.
I also have a habit of missing details or getting lost in them. Usually, it’s harmless. But sometimes God uses those moments to teach me something, often with a little humor. If you don’t think God has a sense of humor, just look at the opossum… or the anglerfish.
Recently, while reading in the book of Numbers, I came across the story of Balaam. It’s tucked into a lot of repetitive number counting, so it’s easy to overlook. But this story really jumped out and hit me like Balaam’s staff.
To set the scene:
Balaam is a prophet, or “seer,” as they called it. He’s not an Israelite, but he can hear from God and bless or curse people. God uses him to show that His blessings are sovereign. No king, prophet, or enemy can override His plan.
The king of Moab hires Balaam to curse the Israelites because he is afraid of their strength. That night, God comes to Balaam and tells him not to go and that he cannot curse them. Balaam tells the king, “God says I can’t go.” But after enough pressure, he goes anyway. (There’s a whole ‘nutha story there.)
While riding his donkey, things go sideways. First, the donkey veers off into a field. Then it crushes Balaam’s foot against a wall. Finally, it just lies down in the road. Balaam beats it with his staff each time. At this point, he’s furious. Honestly, if I were Balaam, I probably would have been texting for another ride-sharing donkey to come pick me up.
Then the donkey speaks.
Yes. The donkey speaks.
It asks Balaam why he keeps hitting it. Balaam yells, “You’ve made a fool of me! If I had a sword, I would kill you!” Not even acknowledging that his donkey is talking to him!
The donkey calmly replies, “Am I not your donkey? Have I ever done this before?”
Balaam admits it hasn’t.
Then God opens Balaam’s eyes, and he finally sees that the Angel of the Lord has been blocking the path the whole time. Suddenly, all the detours make sense.
Now back to Balaam’s mission. The king still wants him to curse Israel. But Balaam can only speak what God tells him to say. Instead of curses, blessing after blessing comes out of his mouth.
And then Balaam relays something from God that made me laugh out loud.
“God sees no wrongdoing in Israel.”
Seriously, God? These are the same people who just spent forty years whining, rebelling, worshiping golden calves, hitting rocks, and generally testing Your patience in the wilderness. And now You see no wrongdoing in them?
I remember thinking, How can God possibly say that?
Later that same day, I had a family event. As my boys walked through the door, my heart just about burst. I thought to myself, They are perfect. I see no wrongdoing in them.
Let’s be real. These are the same boys who left a trail of balled-up socks across the house, shot Nerf bullets into my coffee cup, and somehow managed to dirty every dish in the cupboard in less than twenty minutes.
But in that moment, all I could see was love and perfection.
I actually laughed, looked up toward heaven, and said, “Okay God… I get it.”
My boys are far from perfect. They are human. They have made mistakes and will make more along the way. But at that moment, all I could see was how deeply I loved them.
And that is exactly the point.
God sees our imperfections. He knows every mistake and every wrong turn, yet He still loves us completely. Life is full of detours, walls, and confusing turns. Our job is to keep our eyes on Him and trust that He’s guiding the way, even when we can’t see the path.
We often get frustrated by distractions and detours, but sometimes God is protecting us, redirecting us, and blessing us.
“God is not human, that he should lie,
not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
I have received a command to bless;
He has blessed, and I cannot change it.
He has seen no misfortune in Jacob,
no misery observed in Israel.”
Numbers 23:19–21
God has a way of getting our attention, sometimes in the most unexpected ways. Even when life takes a few turns, His direction is always good. Thankfully, most of the time, we don’t need a talking donkey to remind us… but when we do, it’s usually to keep us from walking straight into a wall.