Numbers 22:28-30

“LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION”

“Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?’ Balaam answered the donkey, ‘You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.’ The donkey said to Balaam, ‘Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?’ ‘No,’ he said. Numbers 22:28-30

Why would we kick an old friend, even if he is a donkey?

Balaam seemed to have some ability to cause a curse upon others. He had been hired to curse the people of God as they journeyed through Moab. As he made his way toward his dreadful deed, the Lord put an angel with a sword in the pathway. Balaam didn’t seem to realize how close to death he had come.

Balaam’s donkey could see what his master could not see. It balked and refused to take his rider any further. He struck and threatened the animal, who suddenly began to talk. “We have been friends a long time; can’t you see that I am trying to save your life?” Only God knows how many people have been warned of troubles and dangers ahead by others who could see things that they couldn’t. Some, like Balaam, rejected wise and loving counsel, and then later wished they had listened.

When we pray “Lead us not into temptation,” think about Balaam. His story is a wonderful illustration. “Lead us” is our plea. Who else would we want to lead us but the Lord? “Not into temptation,” is our prayer that the Lord will not let us go our own destructive way but will stop us even if he must put an angel with a sword in our path; but then, sometimes even a donkey can see the way of the Lord better than us.

We have such a friend in Jesus who guides us through the dangers and troubles that we can’t see. He also died to save us from the ones we walked into anyway.

Grace and Peace. Rev Ray