Eddie Murphy who was the voice to the donkey on Shrek, is such a cute donkey! I find it very amusing how God used a donkey to correct the prophet Balaam. God is not the desperate type. God owns a cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10) and heaven is His throne, earth is His footstool. (Acts 7:49, Isaiah 66:1). He owns the cattle so if he wants to use a donkey, he can use a donkey! He made all the animals and they please Him. Unfortunately, man gets himself in a pit many times (becomes a jackass in life). Johnny Cash and David in the Bible knew what it was to be in a pit. Ever been in a pit in life…so to speak? They made a movie about a house that needed constant repair and it was called the “Money Pit.” Maybe your pit is the debt pit? For Johnny Cash it was the narcotic pit. I told my girlfriend I was on my second round of antibiotic for walking pneumonia yesterday and she thought I said I was on the second round of narcotics…yes I’m flying high…LOL
David was in the adultery and murder pit, Moses was in that same murder pit, Jacob was in the deception pit and Joseph found himself in the jealousy pit (sold out by his brothers). Maybe you have been sold out by someone in life or through bad circumstances? Joseph ended up higher than Potiphar, his former master, as second in command to Pharaoh. Job in the Bible had a series of bad luck that turned around. Job was in the misfortunate pit for a while.
He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. Psalm 40:2
I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. Psalm 69:2
Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters. Psalm 69:14
Let’s say we are stubborn like a mule (A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse), or a jackass (male donkey), that God can still use us! He had Jesus enter the gates of Jerusalem on a donkey. So this was a regular “Dr. Doolittle” where the prophet was corrected. It was Balaam insisting on cursing the children of Israel when God wanted the children of Israel to be blessed.
Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak. "What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?" it asked Balaam. Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” he said. Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.” Numbers 22:28-33
God had Samson use the jawbone of an ass to slay the Philistines:
Then Samson said, "With a donkey's jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey's jawbone I have killed a thousand men." Judges 15:16
God used a small shepherd boy David to slay a giant and become a king, and his brothers were down on him and so was his dad. His dad would not even call him among his sons when Jesse told him to get all his sons that he was going to anoint one of them as a king. David was a king in his heart and he knew how to use his sling shot. Christians accept some things too easily. I like to search a matter out. It is part of being a “king” in this life: (It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. Proverbs 25:2)
I believe there is a “reason” or purpose for everything written as an example in the Bible. Solomon said, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Eccl. 3:1
If you ever raised a four-year old before other children, they usually ask many questions. My son was an only child for ten years and he asked question on top of the next question. Sometimes I would say, “Just because.” “Mom, why is the grass green?” Because grass and most other plants are green because they contain a pigment known as chlorophyll. The chlorophyll is used in the process of photosynthesis where a plant produces sugar in the presence of sunlight. “So why is there a sun?” “To give light on this earth and warmth.” “So who made God?” Wow that is a tough question. No one knows how God exists for some mysterious reason. Like the sun, why did God make the son to come to earth? To give light to this earth and warmth (love).
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12
So I am like my 4-5 year old when it comes to asking God the “difficult” questions of why.
For me, it’s knowing the truth about a matter. “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32. Some of that truth are the reasons that people do the things they do, and some of it is understanding that God’s will can be completed in my life no matter what bad circumstances I go through. That God will fulfill his plan through me and give me his grace (his ability) to complete the perfect will of God in my life sometimes even despite myself being a mule in life at times.
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians 1:6
I had a dream the other night that I was pregnant. Well I am past child bearing age so I “hope” I am pregnant with God’s word and that Christ will be formed in me:
My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, Galatians 4:19
Waffles in the Forest/Donkey from Shrek:
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