One of today’s passages is one of my absolute favorite passages in all the Bible. It’s the story of Balaam and his donkey. This is one of those passages we learn about as kids, one of those passages we talk about as adults, a passage that makes us scratch our head and wonder, what in the world is happening here?
But it’s also a passage that, if we are not careful, we may miss the point of.
This is the passage where Balaam’s donkey talks to him.
Numbers 22 tells us:
28 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. 29 “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!” 30 “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.
Now, this passage can cause us to get bogged down in conversation that make cause us to miss the forest for the trees. We wonder, how did the donkey speak? What did it sound like? Could it happen again? Why a donkey?
While these questions, and other questions are fun to talk about and think about, they may miss the bigger point for you and me.
Did Balaam expect his donkey to talk to him today? I’d say, probably not.
Did God use the donkey to talk to Balaam? Yes.
Did Balaam almost miss what God was trying to say and pay the price with his life? Yes.
So, for us today, the questions is not will a donkey come us to us and start talking. The question is are we listening for God’s voice, in whatever way God chooses to speak to us?
Are we listening for God today. It’s not that God no longer speaks. It’s that we don’t always listen.
God doesn’t just speak on Sundays. He doesn’t just speak through preachers, or the Bible, or the normal ways. God will speak to us in whatever way it takes to get our attention.
For Balaam it was through his donkey. What will it be for you today?
Are you listening? Are you listening for God to speak?
He may choose to speak to you in a way, through a person, you’d least expect it today.
Perhaps a co-worker. Perhaps your child. Perhaps your parent. Perhaps though a song. Perhaps through someone you don’t like.
God will speak today. Maybe through even a donkey.
Are you listening?
RevAndy.org 
He may not have expected the donkey to speak, but he sure isn’t surprised when it happens.
Amen Andy! Lately, I have found that whenever something “strikes me as odd” or otherwise gets my attention that there is often a message from God in there. The challenge for me, as well as for lots of folks I know, is to slow down long enough to think about whatever “it” was that got our attention.