QT 9 Apr 12, Take roadblocks to God in prayer to make sure our hearts are right

Num 22:21-27, 31-35 (NIV) Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. 22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road.

24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam's foot against it. So he beat her again.

26 Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. 

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31 Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

32 The angel of the Lord asked him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.  33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her."

34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, "I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back."

35 The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you." So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

NOTE: This is a fascinating passage, primarily because Balaam's donkey speaks to him. While the serpent spoke to Eve, we know that the serpent was controlled by Satan. In this case,  God allows the donkey to speak, obviously giving him a temporary ability. Animals do have some reasoning ability and the choices the donkey made and the argument of the donkey would not be unreasonable, except for the higher order speech capabilities. Whatever are the facts, the donkey has saved Balaam's life three times. So the first question then is should Balaam have recognized something was amiss because of the difficulty in traveling. He had God's permission to go, but apparently Balaam had other thoughts in his mind. Other scriptures suggest his motive was greed. The scripture says that God was very angry with Balaam, so something had changed from the previous night when God gave him permission to go. Balaam offers to discontinue the trip, and forfeit the riches. That is apparently the right response, because God once again tells him to go. What is the lesson? Certainly, difficulties are not always a sign that our path is the wrong path, otherwise Israel would have been right in fearing the Giants or crossing the desert. But roadblocks should send us to God in prayer to confirm God's will. There may be a reason for the difficulties.