God's Will God's Way

GOD'S WILL GOD'S WAY

[The angel said to Balaam,] “I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me. Three times the donkey saw me and shied away. . . . ” Then Balaam confessed to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to block my way. I will go back home if you are against my going.” But the angel of the Lord told him, “Go with these men, but you may say only what I tell you to say.”Numbers 22:32-35

In today’s reading, Balaam was going forth to do as God had instructed him, but he was going with the wrong motives. His wholehearted obedience turned halfhearted because of his greed for wealth and prestige. His covetousness blinded him to the angel of the Lord who was blocking the path on which he travelled because his eyes were focused on hoped-for riches and not on the hope-filled mission. Balaam ceased to reside in prayer—in a conscious awareness of God’s presence. However, three times God was there narrowing the road in attempts to stop Balaam and get his attention. What path is God “narrowing” in your life so that you feel his resistance? God loves us enough that if we persist in doing things our way and ignore his presence or resist his will, he will derail us, just as he did Balaam’s talking donkey, in order to get our attention and restore our fellowship with him.

LORD, thank you for your love that opens my eyes to see you on every path of life and leads me in obeying your will your way! Help me to follow you, whether it is to move forward into new territory or to return to a previously visited place. Only you know the direction I need to go. I will trust in your leadership and rely on your character. Thank you for leading me exactly where I need to go!

GOD CAN’T GIVE US HAPPINESS AND PEACE APART FROM HIMSELF BECAUSE THERE IS NO SUCH THING.C. S. Lewis (1898–1963)