Don't Be A "Dumb Ass"
May 31st 2011 23:54
Jhn 14:26-27 NIV - But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Have you ever really read that before? How about believed it? It just hit me today as I was sitting here looking for comforting words for a friend in a time of difficulty. I was wondering what I could possibly do to help the situation. How could I possibly hope to pass on any wisdom, advice, counsel or aid? What do I know?
Then I found those verses. Through the Holy Spirit I know everything I need to know exactly when I need to know it. I have a holy 'teleprompter' to remind me of the truths I have read and heard and to teach me the things I was too immature and young to understand yesterday.
The problem is, as comforting as it may be to know that God will supply wisdom, understanding and memory; that also leaves me without excuse when someone is in need. I can't say, "I wish I could help, but I don't know anything about that." How could the Holy Spirit know NOTHING about ANYTHING? How could I be so dumb that He could not give me what was needed to do His will in His timing? Even a donkey can see the Christ, how could we not be able to see and hear Him?
Num 22:23-35 NLT - Balaam's donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. The donkey bolted off the road into a field, but Balaam beat it and turned it back onto the road. Then the angel of the LORD stood at a place where the road narrowed between two vineyard walls. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it tried to squeeze by and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall. So Balaam beat the donkey again. Then the angel of the LORD moved farther down the road and stood in a place too narrow for the donkey to get by at all. This time when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam beat the animal again with his staff. 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. "You have made me look like a fool!" Balaam shouted. "If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!" "But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life," the donkey answered. "Have I ever done anything like this before?" "No," Balaam admitted. Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him. "Why did you beat your donkey those three times?" the angel of the LORD demanded. "Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me. Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey." Then Balaam confessed to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned. I didn't realize you were standing in the road to block my way. I will return home if you are against my going." But the angel of the LORD told Balaam, "Go with these men, but say only what I tell you to say." So Balaam went on with Balak's officials.
How many times does the Holy Spirit have to push us against a wall? crush our feet? Let us beat ourselves and others up? How many times before we realize that if we had been looking for Him all along, it wouldn't have needed to be even half as difficult as all of that? If you read the whole story, you will find just how dumb humans can be without the Holy Spirit. You can see just how blind we are on our own. Balaam not only missed God's message three times, but when his donkey talked to him, he ARGUED with him! How crazy is that?
The next time someone asks for your help and you are tempted to turn them down because you don't want to 'make an ass out of yourself", the next time you want to give someone biblical wisdome but don't want to sound like a 'wise ass', the next time everything seems to be going wrong and you are getting all flustered and frustrated and feel like you are 'beating a dead horse', remember that it just might be a donkey in your path. An ass who can see the Angel of the Lord is far better off than one who can't. Which one will you be?
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