If's and the If's not...

If's and the if's not

"Balaam said, "Because you've been playing games with me! If I had a sword I would have killed you by now." The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she hadn't, I would have killed you by this time, but not the donkey. I would have let her off." (Num.22.29, 33)

These two verses from the book of Numbers 22 paint a very interesting picture for me. One was of the prophet Balaam saying to his donkey, if I had a sword in my hand I would have killed you. Imagine the things you would do if you were in certain positions. For Balaam, he would have killed his donkey because the donkey has hurt his feelings. But with the benefit of hindsight, we know that the donkey was actually preserving his life. In other words, the donkey would have died for doing what was good. Hmm... 

On the other hand, the angel had a sword in his hand and he was not afraid to use it, neither will he hesitate but for the donkey turning aside, he would have killed Balaam. So here was Balaam who faced imminent death but he was saved by the donkey who saw the danger and turned away three times but was going to get killed only for the fact that the person she just saved did not have a sword in his hands

We often ask the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people and good things to bad people? Balaam, a bad person in this case to whom a good thing happened and the donkey, a "good person" to whom a bad thing would have happened. We may never know why. 

May God not leave us at the mercy of those who wants to do us harm. May our good deeds not bring us harm, as the deonkey's would have. And even if that was the case, may it end up working out God's best in and for us because God works all things after the counsel of His will. 

Good day,
Have a great day today,
Dr. Emmanuel Okoro,
(aka Dr. Lift) 


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