“You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me,
I would kill you!” -Num 22:29 (NLT)
I would kill you!” -Num 22:29 (NLT)
Balaam had a ministry as a prophet of the Lord. His sole duty was to do and speak what God commanded. The Old Testament prophets understood that it was never about representing themselves but about representing God. If ministry was about making the minister look good; Hosea wouldn't have married a cheating woman, Ezekiel wouldn't of bothered laying on his left side for 390 straight days, and Isaiah wouldn't of walked naked for 3 years. Ministry today is not about making "us" look good so people can praise us, but it's about pointing to God so they can praise Him. Balaam lost sight of this essential truth and he stumbled. The Angel of the Lord had stood before Him several times to stop him. His donkey was like a Nascar vehicle it derailed off of the road, crashed against a wall, and it finally gave out on him. So Balaam went Nacho Libre on the the donkey and said "You have made me look like a fool!". You see he was more concerned with how that made him look than with anything else. Balaam had lost sight of God and was more concerned with himself and how he looked before men. This can happen to any of us when we forget who we're really doing it for, when we start to do things for ourselves, or when we do ministry as a "favor" to other people instead of a service to God. When we lose sight of God in the ministry, we lose proper perspective, and when we lose proper perspective we become selfish. And like Balaam we end up hurting ourselves and those around us.
- WHAT DO YOU THINK CAUSES MINISTRY BURNOUT? HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO "MAKE SOMETHING WORK" EVEN THOUGH GOD WASN'T BACKING YOU?
- "Obedience to God is our job, the results of that obedience are God's" -Elisabeth Elliot