This is the second comp I've written for my Grammar and Comp class. The assignment was to write about an animal that appears in the Bible, and how it teaches the reader a lesson.
Deep in the book of Numbers (chapter 22 through 24) a story comes to us rich in its beauty as well as in its lesson. During their journey through the desert the Jews come upon the kingdom of Balak and prepare to wage war against it. Balak sends word to the great soothsayer, Balaam, pleading for his help, “ Whatever you bless is blessed, and whatever you curse is cursed.” Then in the night God appears to Balaam saying, “You shall not curse the people for they are blessed.” Balaam resists God’s will and goes with the Princes of Moab to curse the Jews. On their way God sends an angel with a sword to strike down Balaam. None see this angel but Balaam’s donkey who dodges it three times, saving her master. He repays his donkey by beating her for her disobedience. After the third time God allows the donkey to speak, and she says to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” Suddenly Balaam sees the angel standing with his drawn sword and falls before him. God imparts to Balaam, and all who read his story, a crucial and valuable lesson about humility.
Balaam’s ability as a soothsayer means that he can foresee the truth. This ability comes from God, as all truth does. Once he decides to deny God’s will and curse what is blessed, he looses the truth and becomes blind. His little donkey, who has spent her life trotting along carrying him, sees the supernatural more clearly than the great soothsayer. Through this donkey God teaches Balaam humility. Previously Balaam felt so confident and arrogant that he determined to do exactly what God explicitly told him not to. Did he believe that he could judge the truth for himself and that his power came from personal greatness? God rubs away Balaam’s arrogance making him an example of his power--all this done for Balaam’s greater good. Our Lord chooses a simple donkey as the redeemer of Balaam and gives her the power to speak words of truth. Three times Balaam must thank his donkey for his life, and many more times he must remember God’s ultimate and omnipotent power.
Like Balaam, I can forget God’s ultimate power. Beginning to see my successes as tributes to my abilities, I fall, as Balaam fell, into overconfidence in myself. This hurts my relationship with God. When I do make mistakes, I can feel terribly low. All this would not happen if I gave God all his rightful glory in my small successes. Then my mistakes would not bother me so much because I would know my own weakness and God’s greatness. I need to keep trotting along with my load on my back like Balaam’s little donkey, ready to act as God’s instrument of grace.