God Still Speaks

Have you ever been frustrated by God's lack of communication? Have you ever thought to yourself, 'if God would just tell me what he wants from me...?' The thing is God does talk to us...we just don't listen. Numbers 22:21-41 recounts the story of Balaam and his donkey.

Balaam got up in the morning. He put a saddle on his donkey. Then he went with the princes of Moab.
But God was very angry when Balaam went. So the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey. His two servants were with him. The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road. The angel was holding a sword. He was ready for battle. So the donkey left the road and went into a field. Balaam hit the donkey. He wanted to get it back on the road.
Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path. The path went between two vineyards. There were walls on both sides. The donkey saw the angel of the Lord. So it moved close to the wall. It crushed Balaam's foot against the wall. He hit the donkey again.
Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead. He stood in a narrow place. There was no room to turn, either right or left. The donkey saw the angel of the Lord. So it lay down under Balaam. That made him angry. He hit the donkey with his walking stick.
Then the Lord opened the donkey's mouth. It said to Balaam, "What have I done to you? Why did you hit me those three times?"
Balaam answered the donkey. He said, "You have made me look foolish! I wish I had a sword in my hand. If I did, I'd kill you right now."
The donkey said to Balaam, "I'm your own donkey. I'm the one you have always ridden. Haven't you been riding me to this very day? Have I ever made you look foolish before?"
"No," he said.
Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes. He saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road. He saw that the angel was holding a sword. The angel was ready for battle. So Balaam bowed down. He fell with his face to the ground.
The angel of the Lord spoke to him. He asked him, "Why have you hit your donkey three times? I have come here to oppose you. What you are doing is foolish. The donkey saw me. It turned away from me three times. Suppose it had not turned away. Then I would certainly have killed you by now. But I would have spared the donkey."
Balaam spoke to the angel of the Lord. He said, "I have sinned. I didn't realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Tell me whether you are pleased with me. If you aren't, I'll go back."
The angel of the Lord spoke to Balaam. He said, "Go with the men. But say only what I tell you to say." So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

God spoke to Balaam through a donkey! A donkey! How much ignoring of God do you have to do in order for God to use a donkey to speak to you. I'm learning a lot about silence and meditation and how important those two practices are to hearing God. If I could just set aside 30 minutes a day, I would learn to hear God in every and any situation, because in truth our God is not silent...we just ignore him.