Jane and I walked into the second-hand store many years ago
looking for a copy of the Amplified Bible. As we came around the corner, a big
white Bible was lying out on the ledge, separate from the other shelved books.
I said: “Oh look, there’s the Bible Joyce uses.” At that moment, it didn’t even
occur to me that Joyce always uses the Amplified. There it was, laid out so
nicely for us, but I somehow didn’t make the connection. We started to walk
away.
Then two strangers came up looking for a particular book
and began asking a lot of questions. They were somewhat annoying, but we were
polite, and they “happened” to keep us there just long enough that Jane “happened”
to look down and see the spine of the Bible. As plain as could be, it read: “Amplified
Version.” Sometimes God puts an answer right in front of us, and we still
don’t see it. But because He knows what’s in our hearts, He gives us more than
one chance and comes at us in any way He can.
We don’t want to miss God, but if we do, God has a promise
we can claim beforehand for those times when we miss or ignore the revelation.
Second Corinthians 5:14 says: “The love of Christ constraineth us.” The
word “constrain” means to bind together or draw together. He’s relentless and
keeps coming back, like when you want someone to come for dinner, and you keep
asking them and try all kinds of ways to get them just to give in and say:
“Okay, I’ll come.”
Parents know children have this constraining thing down to
an uncanny science when they want something. They come at you from every
imaginable angle to get it. Jesus does the same with us so that we listen to
Him.
The Bible has many examples of the Lord constraining His
people. One of my favorites is the record of Balaam and the ass. It’s found in
Numbers 22 and is one of the funniest in the Bible.
Balak, the king of Moab, knew Balaam as a prophet. He knew
he could win if he could get Balaam to prophesy against the Israelites in the
upcoming battle. So, King Balak sent his men to Balaam with a bribe.
Balaam told the men he would ask God about what to do and let them know in the
morning. God not only forbid him to go, but He forbade him to prophesy against
Israel. But King Balak wasn’t giving up so easily. He sent more prestigious men
to Balaam with the promise of promotion, a place of honor in his kingdom, and
the message: “Now please come, curse these people for me, for
they are too powerful for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive
them out of the land. For I know [your reputation] that he whom you bless is
blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed” (Num. 22:6 AMP).
Baalam decided to ask God one more time if he could go.
Baalam wanted to go. He wanted the promotion, the prestige, and the money.
Everything good, right? Surely God would bless this, right? This makes me think
of how many times we try to make God bless what we’ve already decided we want
to do. That’s not a good way to live and there are consequences.
God gave Baalam another chance and said: “If the men come
to call thee, rise up, and go with them.” God said: “if the men call,”
but Baalam skipped right over the “if” part and “rose up in the morning, and
saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.” God was angry with Baalam’s
action, but because of God’s persistent love, He gave Baalam another chance to
do the right thing. He sent an angel to try to stop him from making a big
mistake.
“And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel
of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding
upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. And the ass saw the angel of
the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass
turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass,
to turn her into the way.
“But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards,
a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. And
when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and
crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.
“And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a
narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the
left. And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she
fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass
with a staff” (Num 22:22-27).
This next part is hilarious:
“And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said
unto Balaam, ‘What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three
times?’
Wouldn’t you think Baalam would wake up by now? After all,
his ass was talking to him! But Baalam was so outrageously
angry that he actually started talking back to the ass and carried on a whole
conversation.
“And Balaam said unto the ass, ‘Because thou hast mocked
me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.’
“And the ass said unto Balaam, ‘Am not I thine ass, upon
which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to
do so unto thee?’ and he said, ‘Nay’” (vss. 29-30).
Then finally God got through to Baalam:
“Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the
angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he
bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.
“And the angel of the Lord said unto him, ‘Wherefore hast
thou smitten thine ass these three times? Behold, I went out to withstand thee,
because thy way is perverse before me: And the ass saw me, and turned from
me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had
slain thee, and saved her alive.
“And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, ‘I have
sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore,
if it displease thee, I will get me back again.’
“And the angel
of the Lord said unto Balaam, ‘Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak
unto thee, that thou shalt speak’” ((Num. 22: 32-35).
I know we usually do our best to listen for the Lord’s
guiding and then follow through on His instructions, but isn’t it great to know
that when we miss it, God will go to the farthest ends, (even if it takes
talking through the mouth of an ass), to constrain us and compel us to come
back to Him?
In the bookstore Christ worked through two strangers to
constrain Jane and me and they kept us at the bookshelf until we saw the
desired Amplified Bible right there in plain sight.
God constrained Balaam through a talking animal. What an
amazing Lord we have.
Question: “Why was the ass smarter than the man?” Answer:
“Because she could see what was right in front of her.”
Let’s pray that we will open our eyes to see what the Lord
puts right in front of us and thank God that He will give us more than one
chance to do the right thing.
We receive an extra blessing from this record of Baalam and
the ass: that animals can talk. It doesn’t happen often, but I know of two
separate times when one of our animals had something to say. One of the times
was when our dog, Spike, was up on my bed. We often liked to share a snack of
soda crackers before bed. One evening as we were enjoying this experience, he looked
me right in the eye and said: “Yummy!” So, don’t be surprised if something like
that happens to you. God IS amazing!
Love, Carolyn
