Did That get your attention?

Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell face down. The angel of the Lord asked him, “why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.”

Numbers 22:31-33

When you keep hitting roadblocks or speed bumps, God is probably trying to get your attention to guide you on the right path.

Balaam was on the road to meet with King Balak. But Balak was wanting Balaam just to put a curse on the Israelites. However, Balam sought the Lord, and God told him not to curse the Israelites because they were blessed. Yet King Balak doesn’t give up that easy and he keeps asking for Balaam to come. So, Balaam prays again and God releases him to go see Balak, but he’s only allowed to say what God grants him. On the way to Balak, Balaam’s noble steed, a donkey, begins halting, then pressing up against the mountain sides, and finally just sits down on the job. Balaam is beyond angry and begins to beat the donkey, but God opens Balaam’s eyes to see the Angel with the sword blocking his way. The angel told Balaam he was on a reckless path and if it wasn’t for the donkey, he’d already be dead. Yet the donkey could see. Balaam asked if he should turn around and go home, but the angel said no, to just keep going on his way. The angel was sent there to get his attention, making sure Balaam would be obedient to the Lord’s requests.

Sometimes a roadblock or speed bump is God just trying to get our attention. We are trying to follow the path he has set before us, but there seems to be bumps along the way. Yet even with the bumps we still feel God telling us to move forward. Many times those bumps are just ways for God to get us to turn our eyes to him and make sure we are focused on the right things with the right motives.

In everything, even the good things, we can become distracted, we can begin doing what God called us to for our own gain and no longer for Him. Then our path changes and what was to be good becomes really bad. So, God puts things in our path that seem like speed bumps, to slow us down, to make us alert. These things are there to get us to get off the donkey, put our knees on the ground and pray, so our eyes and ears and heart are focused on The way, His way, and His heart.

So, don’t let the speed bumps make you turn around. Let the speed bumps turn your eyes to Him, so you may keep focused on Him and Him alone.

Did That get your attention?