Daily Devotionals

Campfire Stories: Week 2 - Tuesday

Balaam said to God, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent me this message: ‘Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come and curse these people for me. Then perhaps I will be able to stand up to them and drive them from the land.' " Numbers 22:10-11

"Low tire pressure," my car alerted me. I was a brand-new teenage driver and, foolishly, I was not convinced that I should take the alert seriously. I decided to ask one of my friends at school about the warning from my car. He told me it was probably fine, and I did not need to worry about it. I listened to him and kept driving my car. If you are thinking, "that was a mistake!" you are right. I found out later that my tire was completely flat. As a result of continuing to drive my car after the "low tire pressure" alert, my tire was destroyed. I listened to the wrong person. If I had consulted a mechanic or even my parents, they would have told me immediately to stop driving my car and check my tires. I learned a valuable lesson that day: be selective of whom you listen to.

This lesson I learned as a young, teenage driver still rings true today. Be careful to whom you listen. The king's messengers came to Balaam, asking him to curse Israel. This request was not of God. The Israelites were God's chosen people whom He loved. God did not want Balaam to pronounce a curse on them. He specifically tells him not to go to curse Israel. Balaam has a decision to make. Who will he listen to? Will he listen to the messengers of King Balak, or will he listen to God? Balaam first tells the messengers to go home because he cannot go with them. Unfortunately, the king of Moab does not take "no" for an answer. He sends his messengers to Balaam again to ask him the same request. This time, Balaam tells the men that he will only do what God tells him, which seems like a great response. Next, Balaam invites the men to stay the night to see if God has anything else to say. This is where things go awry. You see, God had already told him what to do. He did not need to consult God longer or spend any more time with these messengers. God's message had already been given loud and clear: "Do not go!" It seems that Balaam wanted to keep the company of the messengers a bit longer. Maybe he was hoping God would change his mind and let him curse the Israelites. Balaam was giving the king's messengers the opportunity to influence him.

People in our lives have the potential to hold a great deal of influence in our lives. Who do you allow to influence you? Is there anyone in your life who is not influencing you in a godly way? Today, our call is to consider who in our lives are negatively influencing us and to no longer let them have that influence. They will take us to dangerous places that we do not want to be.

Moving Toward Action

I am a people pleaser, which makes it hard to ignore those who hold influence in my life, even those who influence me negatively. I want everyone to be happy with me, and I do not like saying no. However, the truth is that there are some people who we do not need to let influence us. They may become angry with us if we do not listen to them or take their advice, but ultimately, we are not seeking their approval. We are seeking God's. Are there people in your life who no longer need to have an influence on you? If so, tell a trusted friend today who these people are and ask them to hold you accountable not to let them negatively influence you.

Going Deeper

Read Numbers 22:9-17 (NLT)

That night God came to Balaam and asked him, “Who are these men visiting you?”

Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent me this message: ‘Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come and curse these people for me. Then perhaps I will be able to stand up to them and drive them from the land.’”

But God told Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse these people, for they have been blessed!”

The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak’s officials, “Go on home! The Lord will not let me go with you.”

So the Moabite officials returned to King Balak and reported, “Balaam refused to come with us.” Then Balak tried again. This time he sent a larger number of even more distinguished officials than those he had sent the first time. They went to Balaam and delivered this message to him:

“This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Please don’t let anything stop you from coming to help me. I will pay you very well and do whatever you tell me. Just come and curse these people for me!”