Today we begin the book of Joshua. This is one of my favorite books of the Old Testament. There is a lot of drama and there are many lessons we can learn. One of the things that always stands out to me in this book is how God uses everything to fulfill His plan. The bottom line is that God doesn’t really need us; He chooses to use us. In these first few chapters God even uses a prostitute to fulfill His plan. The point I’m trying to make is He doesn’t need us to be perfect or holy or clean, smart, or even called. He simply wants us to be obedient and willing to be used in any way He asks.

You can’t help but laugh a little when you read the interaction between Balaam and his donkey in Numbers 22:28-33, 28 Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” 29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” 30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” he said. 31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. 32 The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. 33The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.” The lesson for us in this reading is that God will open up our eyes when necessary, but we need to be aware of the way situations open and close for us. When there is a blocked path in front of us and all we want to do is plow through it, we should pay attention to why it is there. We need to trust in God’s leading no matter how much it may not make sense to us.