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Scripture: Numbers 22:21-35
Song: In Heavenly Love Abiding
We don’t often think about God’s grace being expressed in discipline. We usually think of God’s blessings in a positive fashion when we think of grace. But sometimes God shows favor to man when He disciplines. He did in the case of Balaam. Balaam was behaving stubbornly—so stubbornly that God used his donkey to rebuke him. The alternative to the donkey’s reproof of Balaam was for the angel to slay the disobedient prophet. Yet God in His grace spared his life and used the occasion to teach Balaam a needed lesson.
The Apostle Paul learned this same lesson when he prayed three times for the Lord to remove his “thorn in the flesh.” The response came back from the Lord, “My grace is sufficient for you.” This thorn in the flesh which was a curse to Paul was actually a gift of God’s grace to keep Paul “from exalting himself,” from losing his humility.
You may run into some walls today or come across some bumps in the road or some blockade to your path. Don’t be overly sensitive to such hindrances to your progress. We have no revelation from donkeys or from men to guarantee that our trouble is divinely sent. But there are certainly some difficulties we will encounter that are the product of our Father’s gracious discipline. Don’t despise such lessons. They’ll keep you in the right path.
Jason Moore
