With many sights, sounds and smells battling for our attention each moment of every day, what we choose to give our attention speaks more of who we are than anything else. Richard Moss said, “The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention.”
As Christians, how well do we pay attention to God? Think back to the time when God spoke to Moses. He spoke through a burning bush! Is that how we would expect God to appear? Think about it for a moment. He is the God who created everything we can see and everything we cannot see and could have created a spectacle of any size or magnitude. Instead, He appeared to Moses in a burning bush. That bush caught the attention of Moses, for though he saw the same types of bush on a daily basis, this one was different. “I wonder what caused that bush to burn,” probably thought Moses, looking at the clouds for signs of lightning.
In a similar way, God can capture our attention any time or place He desires. Though He has the ability to perform the greatest of miracles, He typically speaks in a way that we might look upon as ordinary, or unspectacular.
21 So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. 22 Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the LORD took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 Now the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road. 24 Then the Angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. 25 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again. 26 Then the Angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
28 Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”
29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”
30 So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.”
Numbers 22:21-30
Causing a donkey to speak is certainly not ordinary, or what any of us would expect. At that time, God opened Balaam’s eyes so that he, too, was able to see the Angel of the Lord along the path. In the same manner, God often opens our eyes to see Jesus along the way. When we are busy giving our attention to the things of the world, we easily can become blinded to the things of the Lord. Sometimes, we need to slow down, look around and see what is out of the ordinary. It might be something very small, but the smallest change can create the largest effect. Are your eyes open to see what God desires for you to see?
2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”
Exodus 3:2-3
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