Being a Donkey

We will never glean practical spiritual truth from the Bible until we make it personal.  I can look back over the years and I remember several times God spoke  to me directly through His Word.  I remember the first time I saw myself as Simon of Cyrene, who had come out of his country and was compelled to carry the cross of Christ.  I also remember when the LORD showed me that all men are as Barabas (including myself!).  Though he was condemned to die for his wicked acts, Barabas was spared and Christ became his substitute.  Today I saw myself for the first time as the donkey that carried Christ into Jerusalem during His triumphant entry.

God has been teaching me a lot lately about obeying His directives, not just automatically doing things to please people.  It is an easy trap to do what everyone says you should do.  As opportunities have presented themselves for me to serve at church of late, I have felt strangely restrained by God.  It does not profit to please man if you displease God.  King David wanted to build God a house and Nathan said immediately, "Do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you." (1 Chron. 17:2)  Yet God appeared that night to tell Nathan the prophet to speak for Him the next day:  "You shall not build Me a house to dwell in."  King David was not permitted by God to build the temple, but he prepared for construction by gathering materials.  There are times when God restrains His people so they can be released to perform God's will.

This morning we read Luke 19:29-34 during church service:  "And it came to pass, when He [Jesus] came near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, [30] saying, "Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. [31] And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you loosing it?' thus you shall say to him, 'Because the Lord has need of it.' " [32] So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them. [33] But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?" [34] And they said, "The Lord has need of him."  Before the colt could be loosed, he must have first been restrained.  The colt had been tied up and thus reserved for the Lord's purposes.  It didn't matter what the other donkeys thought or what the owner of the colt had to say.  The Lord had need of him, and Jesus had every right to direct his disciples to bring the colt to Him.

It's ironic that we know "The LORD owns the cattle on a thousand hills" but if we touches our donkey we ask, "Why are you loosening him?"  People have asked me, "Why don't you do this or that?"  "We need you to help here" or "You'd be perfect for this role."  God has certainly restrained me from jumping back into full-time ministry at church since my return from Australia because I believe God has tied me up for a purpose according to His design to serve Him there.  There will be a time when He will loose me to perform His will.  There is a need He has prepared for me to meet by His grace according to the power of the Holy Spirit who works in me.  A donkey is considered a humble animal because it is bred as a "beast of burden."  Not a glamorous position being a blue-collar guy.  But that little blue-collar donkey literally carried Jesus into Jerusalem.  I rejoice in the prospect of carrying Christ wherever I go in the world.

Israel said of his son before he passed into eternity:  Genesis 49:14-15 reads, "Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between two burdens; [15] He saw that rest was good, and that the land was pleasant; he bowed his shoulder to bear a burden, and became a band of slaves."  It was a couple of months ago when someone I highly respect came up to me and said with intensity, "Never forget that you are a pastor."  The calling of a pastor is a two-fold burden of caring for the flock of God as well as having a heart for the lost, and is a delicate balance of family and ministry.  It takes the power of God to love sheep as well as wolves who are convinced they are sheep.  It is a mistake to think a pastor's job is to serve men.  A pastor, like every other believer, is to serve God first.  Christians serve God by serving men, but we must never fall into the trap of serving men to serve God.  He must have our allegiance and obedience.

When Jesus looses me to serve Him according to His perfect will in America, Australia, or wherever He should lead, I have decided to bear the burden of service He places upon me.  My training, personality, work ethic, nor my mental or physical ability to handle stress will be sufficient to help me endure.  As Esther had been brought into the kingdom of the Medes and Persians for such a time, so I have been prepared for this moment in time.  It is a time of preparation and waiting on the LORD.  Only He has the authority to say, "Loose him, and let him go!"