Listen to your Ass

“Despite his angry reactions, Balaam’s Ass refused to move, but strangely spoke to his master. “Why are you doing this to me?, what have I done to deserve this beating? Have I not served you this long to know that I wouldn’t hurt you, but why…?”

Did I just see this topic? Listen to your Ass! Yes, I bet you just did, and not only you are surprised at the title of this write-up, I am too, and I am sure many would be wondering what of sort of topic this is on a Christian blog. Well, Listen to your Ass will not only encourage you but inspire and exhort you to always listen to your ass.

However, Let me tell you what I mean by the word ass, as opposed to the general belief, the ass I am referring to here is a donkey, Ok, now I know what you mean and why should I listen to a donkey? Well, here is why — Balaam is a prophet who has an ass which has been serving him for a very long time, they go almost everywhere together, and he had never disappointed his master.

Yielding to the Divine Command

Prophet Balaam was invited by King Balaak, a ruler from another territory because he  has heard a lot about him and the great miracles he has performed. The king then invited Balaam to come and carry out one simple assignment for him, and if only he could do just what he wanted, he would divide all his estates into two and give half of it to Balaam. And what was it the King wanted Balaam to do? To  do a cursing job! to curse  Jacob.

Moreover, as much as Balaam would have loved to  answer to  King Balaak, he was also answerable to another king who is greater than any other king in the whole of the universe, and that is the only King Balaam is committed to, King Jesus. Giving honour to whom honour is due and respecting those in authority is part of what the Bible taught us, so Balaam needed to go and answer the king’s call but before going, he needed to consult his maker and God wasn’t happy about it, but Balaam was commanded by God to proceed by carrying out the assignment, but  only according to the divine instruction. Balaam jumped on his long serving and trustworthy Ass to embark on the journey. They have not travelled far when the Ass stopped moving and Balaam did everything he could to make the Ass move, but there was no positive response. Instead of the ass yeilding to his owner’s instruction of going forward, because he could see what his owner could not see,really he crushed Balaam’s knee on the wall, and this made Balaam so furious that he angrily hit the Ass the first, second and even the  third time.

Despite his angry reactions, Balaam’s Ass  still refused to move, but strangely spoke to his master, Balaam. “Why are you doing this to me?, what have I done to deserve this beating? Have I not served you this long to know that I wouldn’t hurt you, but why?” Balaam was so angry that he was not even surprised that an Ass  which he has been riding and looking after for years, actually did speak. He just kept on having  conversation with the Ass as if he was talking to another human being. 

In Connection with the Spirit of God

Eventually, God opened Balaam’s eyes to see what his Ass saw which made him refuse to go ahead with the journey, ‘an angel’. The angel had been stopping Balaam from continuing with the journey but he just couldn’t see him, but the Ass saw him and was trying to talk to his master that if he decided to go forward forcefully, it could only lead to one thing, death’. Balaam did not listen to his Ass, and the angel  had to appear to Balaam himself  that if only he had succeeded in forcing the Ass to go ahead he would have died. (Number 22: 32-33)

You might not be that favoured to see the angel that saved Balaam from death by appearing to him, but we have all got an Ass that speaks to us every now and then. What is your ass?  What does it look like? Does it speak? If he speaks, How does it speak? You just need to discover it. It might be a thought, an  idea, instinct, friends, family, spouse, etc. God uses various things to communicate his intentions to us. We only need to be free from certain things which have held us bound, and allow Jesus to show us the way forward and also to save us from evil, but we need to listen to our Asses, and hear what they are trying to communicate to us. Many people, like Balaam, have sight to see or hear things but don’t have the insight to discern the spiritual things. Don’t beat your Ass…but listen to him.  He has the capacity to save you from everlasting shame and damnation.

For further reading and understanding of the story, please read Numbers 22: 1-end.