when donkeys talk

in Numbers 22, there is a rather amusing story of balaam and his donkey. God used the donkey to get balaam's attention in a quite unusual way: talking. this is one of the 2 instances in the Bible where we see animals conversing with humans. the other was the serpent in the garden. as a minister, i am very humbled by the fact that God chooses to use me as a means of communicating His Word to His people. today, i had the honor and privilege of preaching at a local baptist church here in tupelo. this morning, i had clear direction from God concerning the message He would have me preach. i followed His direction and God blessed. however, tonight was a completely different story. 30 minutes before the evening service was to begin, my wife asked me what i was preaching on, to which i responded, "i haven't the foggiest." as i was driving to the church, praying for direction, i was beginning to get nervous. i had received numerous accolades from the members of the church as well as my wife on the sermon i delivered in the morning service. while all the glory goes to God, and i truly praise Him for using me this morning, i did not want the opposite to happen tonight. i have said it many times before, that chris west has nothing to offer in terms of spiritual wisdom or intellectual scholarship, and this echoed true tonight. as i was pulling up into the parking space in front of the church, God made it clear to me that i was to give my testimony. i at first balked at the idea, as i had already made up my mind that i was going to preach on a passage that i was familiar with, which made for a "good sermon". but He didn't let up. so my testimony it was going to be.

to make a long story short, God used the mouth of a donkey to speak to balaam, and he used the mouth of another kind of donkey tonight to purvey the truth to three people that were playing the religion game the same way that i did for so many years. tears welled up in my eyes as those three stood and yielded to the Lordship of Christ and subsequently had their names written in the Lamb's book of life! praise God that He still speaks to us, and pray that we will still have the sense to listen!