Let’s keep our eyes and ears open

I love the story of God speaking through a donkey to Balaam the prophet (Num. 22:21-34). Balaam was out of the will of God; trying to walk through a door the Lord had closed. The Lord sent an angel to block Balaam and his donkey from continuing on. The donkey saw the angel, but Balaam did not . . . that is, until he beat the donkey to try to make it move, and the Lord caused the donkey to talk to him! Not only were Balaam’s ears opened, but his eyes were opened as well. He saw an angel blocking their path with his sword drawn. God rebuked the prophet in this quite unusual way to keep him from making a serious mistake. We often have a tendency to believe God will speak to us the same way today that we’ve heard Him speak in the past. Sometimes this is true, but there are times we miss hearing God’s voice because He is speaking to us in ways we simply do not expect. Let’s keep our eyes and ears open.