“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.”
Numbers 22:31 NLT

One day, I watched someone attempt to back out of a parking space at a local drug store.  They couldn’t get more than a few feet out of their parking spot due to a little car that was stopped behind them to their right and a van stopped behind them to their left. The driver began to tap their horn but no other vehicles moved. Finally, he laid on his horn motioning for somebody, anybody, to move. What the frustrated driver couldn’t see was that the driver of the little car was in a long line and purposefully left a gap so as not to block the intersection leading to the bank. The irate driver was blind to the reality of the situation from his angle of view.

When we rely on our own wisdom instead of God’s, we can fall prey to spiritual blindness.

Balaam learned this lesson in an unusual way. He was a sorcerer propositioned by the King of Moab to put a curse on the Israelites for money. God had already told Balaam not to go. Balaam outwardly said he had no power to go against God’s will but in his heart he wanted the money! Eventually he headed out with the Moabite officials. Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of the Lord blocking her way and she attempted to avoid it three times in order to save Balaam’s life. Balaam beat his donkey in a fit of increasing anger because she wouldn’t go down the path. Then, a funny thing happened–God gave the donkey the ability to speak, and she asked Balaam why he beat her! Now, if I had just beaten my donkey in a fit of rage and she started asking me why, I believe I would have jumped from the beast and run! But, Balaam answered her and shortly afterward, the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes to what he could not see earlier. Balaam confessed his sin, obeyed the Lord and blessed, rather than cursed, the Israelites.

Balaam missed every sign from his donkey that there was trouble in his path even though he was a wise sorcerer. He was unable to see what was right in front of his face because he was focused on his own wisdom and desires.

Only God, through the Holy Spirit, opens our eyes to the truth so that we can clearly see the obstacles in our path. Is spiritual blindness clouding your vision today?

By grace through faith,

Rita