What Does It Take To Make You Listen

A prophet argues with a donkey and the animal makes the better point. That’s the door into a story about motives, warnings, and how we handle the moments that block our momentum. We unpack Balaam’s path from hired curser to reluctant blesser, why the road closed three times, and what it means when grace shows up as resistance rather than green lights.
We start with the tension at the heart of Numbers 22: a king’s lucrative offer, a prophet who can hear God but wants the payday, and a permission that comes with a leash—go, but only speak what is true. From there, we trace the three roadblocks, the bruised foot, and the jolt of a voice from an unexpected source. The humor in the talking donkey disarms us long enough to see our own patterns: pushing harder when we should pause, blaming our tools when our motives are off, and mistaking open doors for wise choices. Along the way, we share practical ways to test guidance, name our strongest pulls, and treat interruptions as information rather than enemies.
The story doesn’t end with a laugh. Balaam blesses Israel under pressure, but later engineers a quiet sabotage that the New Testament condemns by name. We dig into that turn to show how giftedness without integrity becomes dangerous, and why discernment is less about special messages and more about a steady, honest heart. If you’ve ever felt the sting of a closed path or the nudge you’d rather ignore, this conversation offers a map: slow down, examine desire, and listen for truth even when it arrives from unlikely voices. Press play, then share your own “donkey moments”—the interruptions that saved you—and leave a rating so more listeners can find the show.

Chapters

• 0:10 Welcome And Setup
• 0:34 Meet Balaam, The Donkey Guy
• 1:12 Balak’s Request And God’s Warning
• 2:10 The Roadblock And The Talking Donkey
• 4:19 Lessons On Listening To God
• 5:40 Closing Encouragement And Sign‑Off

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:10

Good morning and welcome to Starting Right. I am Danny Mack, and I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back and relax for the next five minutes as I help you start your day by starting right. Today I want to talk once again about one of those characters in Scripture that they sort of appear for a short period of time and then disappear for most of the rest of Scripture. This is one of those guys, and the thing that most people remember about him was really kind of unusual. You see, this guy's become known as the donkey guy. He actually had an argument with a donkey, and the donkey won. The man, of course, is Balaam, who was a diviner, a non-israelite prophet, who somehow was still able to hear from God, but really was not all that keen on following what God had to say. His story is found in the twenty second chapter of the book of Numbers. The story tells of the Israelites as they were moving into a land that was ruled by the Moabites. Now Balak, who was the king of the Moabites, called upon Balaam to go and to curse Israel so that they could not come into the land and that Israel would not be able to move ahead. Balaam said he first had to talk to God about it, and God told him have nothing to do with Balak because the Israelites were blessed. So when Balaam went back to Balak, he was offered a huge sum of money, but Balaam refused to curse the Israelites. Then Balaam had a dream, and in that dream God told him to go with Balak, but to only do what God told him to do. So the next morning he saddled his donkey and went with them, and God was furious with him for going. That particular contradiction has puzzled theologians forever. The usual interpretation is that God knew in Balaam's heart he was doing it for the cash. Verse twenty-one picks up the story, and it says, Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the Moabite officials, but God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood on the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding his donkey, and his two servants were with him. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road and into a field. And Balaam beat it to get it back on the road. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards with the walls on both sides, and the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam's foot. So again he beat the donkey. Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the left or to the right. And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry, and he beat it with his staff. 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? 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. 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. 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 face down. Make no mistake, there are serious things that are going on here. But along the way, Balaam has this talk with his donkey. What gets me is that when the donkey first spoke to him, Balaam answered him back, and not only that, the conversation went back and forth at least a couple more times. It's interesting that what happens next in the story is that Balaam says to God, I'm sorry, I've sinned, I'll go back home if you want me to, but tell me what you want me to do. And God says, No, you go on, but you say what I tell you to. So Balaam goes on, and instead of cursing Israel, he actually blesses Israel, which really ticks off Balak. Here are a couple of important lessons for us. The first thing is that God wants to have this personal relationship with us where he speaks to us. And sometimes if we are not willing to listen to what he has to say to us within our spirits to teach us and to guide us, he will do something unusual to get our attention. Someone or something will come along and something will happen, and God will use that to bring our attention back to him and what really is important. I doubt very much you'll wind up talking to a donkey, but there are circumstances that God will use to get your attention to help you understand how to get back on track and get you going the way you need to go again. And secondly, when God gets your attention, listen to him. Listen to what he has to say. Don't try to barter with them, don't try to make a deal with them. Listen to what he has to say. God will help you to know what to do that is right, and that's important. Balaam never learned this lesson. Later on, after he blessed Israel, Balaam went to the king of Moab and told him how to destroy the Israelites. He said, Get your women to go in there and corrupt the men. And for this, Balaam is remembered twice in the New Testament, in the book of Second Peter and in Revelation, where he is condemned for what he did and used as an example of someone who destroys the work and power of God. So there we go. That's the story of the donkey guy in one of the strangest conversations in the Bible. Make sure you're listening to God today as He's directing you and guiding you and just loving on you. Have a great day, my friends. We will talk again tomorrow. Thank you for listening today. And I invite you to join me Monday to Friday right here on Starting Right with Danny Mack.