#16 "I Cannot Go Beyond the Word of the Lord"

Numbers 22-24; 31:1-16
An ironic thing happened to me this week, on my way to California; I decided to read my lesson so I could ponder it off and on during my vacation. I read it and low and behold it is some weird story of how a donkey speaks to his master to let him know the Lord’s will. I thought to myself, ‘great, how am I supposed to personalize this one, I have never had a donkey speak to me’; well I let it go thinking hopefully something will come to me. Upon entering Disneyland there are several characters greeting guests and it hits me, here I am standing in line to meet many animals that speak! I thought that was hilarious! Don’t worry though my lesson isn’t about Mickey Mouse.

To start with I am going to give a basic run down of the story then we will pull out some interesting points that are pertinent to us.
There are 2 main characters of this story. Balak is the King of Moab, he’s been observing the neighboring countries destruction at the hands of the Israelites. He’s getting concerned and calls upon Balaam; Balaam is a prophet type guy of that country. He isn’t described as a ‘prophet’ but he has a reputation of being gifted with being able to bless and curse nations with great results. (Numbers 22:3-6) He has divine help and revelation from God on his side. He is believed to be Abraham’s cousin, so that stands to reason that he has the priesthood, but it isn’t stated directly so we will just assume that he is a prophet of some kind.
Balak sends rewards to Balaam in hopes that he will be prompted to come and bless them and curse Israel. Balaam prays and receives the answer NO. Balak sends more rewards with different men. Balaam says in vs. 20 “if Balak gives me his house full of silver I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God.” But he asks again the Lord says, (vs. 20) If the men come to call thee, rise up, and JST adds IF thou wilt, go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.” In other words if you feel you must use your agency and go with them, say and do only that which I, the Lord command you to do.” Balaam decides to go v.22 God was angry with him, not for going as much as where his heart was when he went. He was probably trying to figure out a way to get the rewards as well as obey the lord. The only problem we know with that is we can’t serve both God and mammon can we? So God sends an angel to make sure that Balaam will do the Lord’s will. Balaam didn’t see the angel but his donkey does (v. 23) and turns off the road and refuses to go past the angel. Balaam gets mad and ends up smiting (hitting) the donkey (means peace) 3 times (3= power of God) Then the Lord v.28 opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, what have I done unto thee? V.30 I have been thy valiant donkey since you got me, I have never done anything for you to be mad at me have I? Then v. 31 the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes and he finally saw the angel of the Lord with a sword. The angel tells him thy way is perverse before me, that is why I stopped you, and the donkey saw me and that is why she turned from the path. Balaam recognizes his error and the angel tells him v. 35 you can go but only speak what the Lord wants you to speak. He agrees, goes and ends up blessing Israel 3 times instead of cursing them. Balak’s response to that is found after each blessing: 23:11 what hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies and, behold, thou hast blessed them. 23:25 neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. 24:10-11 Balak was angry and says, “I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times. I thought to promote thee to honour but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honor.

Sometimes it feels that way to us doesn’t it? That we are kept back from honor or worldly desires. We justify that we are doing the best we can why can’t we seem to get ahead? Sometimes it is difficult to see past the issue to the blessings, or to see the eternal ramifications of our best choices, but the scriptures tell us over and over again that God does and will bless His people temporally and eternally, just not always the way we expect.

So now let’s talk about the Lord’s will; we have 3 questions we need to answer.
1-How do I figure out the Lord’s will? 2- How do I know it’s the Lord talking? 3-In what ways does the Lord talk to us or show us what we are supposed to do?

How do I know it’s the Lord’s will?
22:6 Balaam is endowed with a gift which he uses to help people who are righteous. We too have gifts that are divinely given and as we use them we discover more gifts and talents, as we discover more we use them to bless others. If they bring good fruit then we know they are from God.
22:8 Prayer brings peace and answers of peace. I add fasting to this, it is a great way to clear our minds and bodies to hear the answer more clearly.

How do I know it’s the Lord talking?
22:23 the ass wouldn’t go forward- this is telling me that when things aren’t working out right perhaps I should rethink my ideas or choices. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life it’s that if something isn’t working out right the reason is usually I am on the wrong path, so I pray about something different. There have been times when I pray and get nothing-no clear answer, but as I move forward if it works out for me then great, if it doesn’t I know to try a new course.
*When I was a senior in high school I had a great GPA I finished my CNA course I was totally ready for the nursing program, I applied and didn’t get in. I was crushed, I really thought I was destined to be a nurse, I had prayed and felt good about being a nurse. Now I look back and realize that my path led to me being a mother, mainly because I’ve learned more from being a mother than I ever could’ve learned as a nurse. I know that if I had become a nurse first I probably wouldn’t have had kids, I would’ve wanted a career more than a family and I couldn’t even fathom that now! The Lord knows what He’s doing even if it doesn’t feel that way.

22:28 I don’t know about you but if some donkey started talking to me I wouldn’t automatically think to myself; yep that’s the Lord talking. I’m not sure how Balaam didn’t freak out, if my donkey had started to speak I’m really not sure I would’ve stayed rational enough to have a conversation with it. So how would you know this instance was from the Lord? In this instance, before the donkey spoke Balaam had hit him 3 times, the number 3 is symbolic for the power of God. So how does this work in our day, do we sit and look for things to happen in threes? I don’t think we should get carried away here, but my mom told me a story of a lady she knows; this lady’s husband was a newly called Bishop and it was time for the stake presidency to change well the wife received a dream 3 times that her husband would be called to serve in the presidency. He was and he was completely shocked. She wasn’t shocked and told him why. Why do you think she received the dream and not him? Perhaps she needed to be prepared, perhaps he wasn’t listening, perhaps he was distracted, there are many reasons and we can make ourselves crazy trying to figure it out, but there is one other more important way to know if it is from the Lord, pray and ask if it is from the Lord and the spirit will tell you.
By this point in the story perhaps the extreme instance with the donkey would be the only way to get Balaam’s attention, and when a whole nation is at stake (Israel) the Lord doesn’t mess around. After he had been humbled a little by the donkey the Lord was able to open his eyes and Balaam finally saw the angel. The Lord will show us what we need to know, whether He shows us a clear path, or just help us to feel right and good about our choice.

Another way to know if it is from the Lord or not is to contemplate who will benefit from your actions, in this instance Balaam chose to go off to Balak, the Lord stopped him because his heart was upon the riches he would receive for himself. He wasn’t thinking about the people he would bless or even about Balak’s people, he was only thinking about himself. If when we are making decisions we need to think down the road a little, this is called the eternal perspective. We need to think who will benefit, how will they benefit, what will result from this decision, will all parties involved come out better people because of my actions. These are just a couple of questions we could ask ourselves that will help us know the Lord’s will for our lives.

This brings us to our last question: In what ways does the Lord talk to us and show us what to do?
Well we know that Balaam spoke to the Lord in prayer, that is the obvious, easiest way to talk to the Lord and feeling the spirit and asking him for reassurance from the spirit is the one we should use the most. Reading in the scriptures is the best way to receive answers. But just as Balaam also heard from his donkey we too can look for clues of the Lord’s love, now don’t go crazy on me looking for talking donkey’s but perhaps you have things in your life that bring peace and comfort to you, that somehow give you comfort that the Lord is there with you. One of God’s creations that give me comfort is butterflies. I see butterflies often, I am fascinated by them. When I was younger my mom and dad told me that butterflies can be something that tells you that angels are watching over you, this may not be doctrine, I didn’t have time to find a quote to back it up, but I just know that it has brought great comfort to my life when I need it. I have even seen butterflies in the middle of winter fly by. Just this last week when we were in Disneyland, Keith, me, and Savanah were riding on the Winnie-the-pooh ride we had just got started when a pretty big butterfly came and landed right in front of us on our car. It came and sat there for a while as we were going we all watched with amazement. I asked in my mind once again if this was an indication that an angel was with me I received the answer from the spirit that it was, and the Lord was watching out for us on our trip. I was so grateful for that moment and other moments throughout my life when the Lord made it clear He was with me and watching out for me. Not everyone will see butterflies, maybe you notice cool clouds, maybe you have a connection with birds or finding money on the ground, or maybe you just constantly feel peace and comfort sitting in a quiet moment, all these can be ways the Lord talks to us.

I have a testimony that the Lord does talk to us, He wants to talk to us, He wants us to know of His will for our lives, which is a better way, and blesses more people than just ourselves. He gives us clues to help us figure out His will through prayer and fasting. His will brings peace and contentment rather than anxiety and fear. I know these things are true with all my heart in the name of Jesus Christ amen.