by Pastor David Troxler
Scripture: Numbers 22:22-38
Now that the weather is nice and more people are out as the virus restrictions are lifted, we are witnessing an increase in recklessness. People falling off ladders, making bloody mistakes with power saws, accidents with cars, motorcycles and bicycles. The number of traumatic accidents like this is way up. Reckless behavior in public is often the result of a reckless private life.
Our son’s first job after graduating from ENC was with a company developing auto-blind spot protection and other safety features in automobiles. He worked on some important stuff. Many cars now have systems designed to stop us from being reckless, so we don’t have a wreck!
The star of today’s Scripture passage is a donkey whose master did not see his own reckless ways. The donkey saw and avoided road collisions with disaster repeatedly, saving his master from certain harm! It recognized trouble when Balaam couldn’t.
Balaam was impulsively vying for personal gain against the design of God. God sent an angel to stop Balaam, forcefully if necessary. Only after Balaam’s eyes were opened to his own reckless behavior could he proceed properly.
Have you been reckless? Not the impulsive moment when you buy that extra donut or whoopie pie. No, the truly reckless kind—when you said something before thinking through what you were saying, or going off on a rant when you only had half the information? Have you wronged another by the offhand dismissal of another’s pain? Or, like Balaam, when you determined to do your own thing even when God said “No!”?
It is okay to hear God say “No.” At least it means you are still on speaking terms. We (well, I) get into trouble when we (I) can’t hear God say “no” any longer because of recklessness in our (my) spiritual life.
God told Balaam “No” but only his donkey got the message. What stops you when you don’t get the message?
Lord, thank you for the times you have reached out to stop me from making a terrible error in judgment. And I’m sorry for the times that I didn’t listen soon enough. Please forgive me. Amen.