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Date: 05 May 2002 Shalom, Boker-Tov, Heard of the phrase, "Man proposes but God disposes"?
Depending on the version of the Bible you have, the verse in Proverbs
16: 9 in the New King James Version reads as: - A person can have all his plans all lined up but he cannot determine his final outcome because there are just too many external factors for which he has absolutely no control over. A farmer can sow the seeds but if there is no rain, those seeds will not bring forth new shoots and therefore there will be no crops. An investor can pour all his money into a particular equity stock but he cannot control the performance of the company. In the Book of Numbers chapters 22 - 24, we read of a so-called prophet who had the power to cause blessings and curses to rain on anyone whom he spoke for or against. The king of Moab, Balak, engaged the services of Balaam to curse the children of Israel as they passed through his land so that the Israelites could be defeated by his army. Balaam was preparing to do just that after receiving a handsome fee from Balak but that night the Lord God of Israel spoke to Balaam and told him specifically not to join forces with the Moabites as he would be fighting against not the children of Israel but God Himself. The next morning Balaam saddled his donkey and went with the army of Moab to do as he was paid. Now God was angry with Balaam for not taking heed of the warning and so we had a very interesting account of how the Lord dealt with Balaam in a most unusual manner. The Angel of the Lord appeared in front of the donkey as it was approaching a very narrow opening between the walls of two vineyards. The donkey, seeing the angel supernaturally, moved very close to the wall in order to avoid him and in the process rubbed Balaam's legs against the sharp edges of the rocks and that irritated Balaam. Three times the angel appeared to the donkey and it reacted in the same manner. Finally the donkey sat down on the ground and Balaam, by now extremely agitated, struck the donkey with his staff. Now the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey and it spoke to Balaam asking him why he struck it three times. And Balaam rebuked the donkey for hurting his legs. It did not occur to Balaam that he was actually making conversation with a donkey because he was so full of anger that he was not thinking straight. Finally, the Angel of the Lord opened Balaam's eyes and he was able to see the angel standing in front of the donkey and he suddenly realized what was happening. The angel then told Balaam to go ahead with the army of Moab and that Balaam will be given the exact words to speak to the children of Israel. In chapters 23 and 24 we have the four accounts of the four prophecies that Balaam, a medium, spoke and in each of the prophecies, he was actually blessing Israel instead of cursing them as he was paid to do. Of course this infuriated Balak and frustrated the king of Moab. What they had set out to do ended up Israel getting blessed and we read in later chapters that the children of Israel finally entered the Promised Land and prospered in accordance with the prophecies. In another incident, we read of Moses standing on the edge of the Red Sea ( Exodus 14 ). In front of him was the Red Sea and behind him, he could make out the clouds of dust drawing nearer and nearer as Pharaoh and his 600 chariots were in hot pursuit of the children of Israel. To turn back to Egypt would mean certain death to some of them and slavery to everyone else and there was no way forward except the sea. And so the people murmured against Moses that he had brought them out to die in the desert. But Moses calmed the people and told them that the Lord would deliver them out of the hands of Pharaoh. Moses then turned to the Lord and the Lord instructed him to lift up his shepherd's rod towards the sea. When Moses lifted the rod, the Lord caused a mighty wind to blow on the sea and the sea parted to reveal dry land so that the children of Israel could literally walk on the seabed and crossed over safely. Meanwhile the angel of the Lord came as a cloud and stood between the army of Pharaoh and Israel until the last person had crossed. And then the Lord instructed Moses to stretch out his hand towards the sea and this time the sea closed in on the pursuing Egyptian army and drowned every soldier. What is the difference between the two stories? In the account of Balaam, God was not part of the plan that Balaam had. In fact he determined in his heart to do harm to Israel but then God intervened and the results were astounding; Israel was blessed. In the story of Moses, we have a man of God leading His people out of Egypt into the Promised Land and Moses depended on the Lord for everything - oh yes, the Lord was very much in all the plans - and there was great success all the way. My friends, is the Lord part of your everyday life? Where is He today in relation to your life? And here I am not just referring to your spiritual life but physical life as well. Is here there with you in your office, your home, your family? Do you include Him in all your plans? King Solomon, in Psalms 127: 1 - 2 wrote: - How about you? Is the Lord Jesus Christ in your life? If
not, why not take a few moments and invite Him into your life and ask
Him to take over the running of your daily affairs and relationships and
I will be the first to congratulate you on your decision. I made that
decision 32 years ago and I have never regretted my choice. Invite Him
in and pray this prayer: Welcome to the Lord's family. I encourage you to include Him in all your daily activities. Most important, spend time reading His love letter ( the Bible ) to you and discover His plan for your life. The Lord blesses you and keeps you, Shavrou-tov shalom, |