A Donkey, a Two by Four, and the Father
Are you familiar with the story of Balaam and his donkey? If not, the short story is that God used the stubbornness of a donkey to “get through” to one of his vessels and again bring praise to Himself. One of the morals of this event is that God will use whatever He desires to get through to us.
Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.”30 And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.”
31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. Numbers 22:28-31
For me, I don’t have the luxury of a talking donkey, unless we count Donkey in the Shrek movies, but that’s a different story.
No. God uses the proverbial two by four to get through to me. I call it the Waller 2×4, because it is God’s unique way of cutting through my stubbornness. There’s one thing I have learned about the Waller 2×4, though. It becomes less of a brutal experience, the more I am aware of, and looking for, God in my every day life.
My Father provides all that I need and more. Yet, I too often view my world, and all around me, as though I was responsible for giving it the current shape it takes.
One simple, easy way I have found to remind myself of God’s glory, mercy and grace is to regularly write about how I met God in a particular day or week. This could be as simple an observation about rain when the world needed it or as complex as Him orchestrating a complex real estate transaction. What it always boils down to is this: God’s faithfulness and my striving to see this, in spite of my blindness
So, join me.
I will be regularly posting here about how I met God. Add your voice in the comments. Connect with me on the social networks. Share how you’ve experienced God recently.
