Balaam was a professional. Hired by King Balak of Moab to curse Israel, he saddled his donkey and headed out, confident in his own spiritual authority. He didn't know that God had posted an angel with a drawn sword across his path.
The Donkey Sees First
Three times the donkey veered off course. First into a field. Then she crushed Balaam's foot against a stone wall. Finally she just lay down in the middle of the road and refused to move. Balaam beat her each time, furious at what looked like stubborn disobedience.
Then God opened the donkey's mouth: "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" Balaam argued with her -- actually argued with a talking animal -- before God opened his own eyes and he saw the angel standing there, sword drawn, ready to kill him.
The Animal Knew What the Man Didn't
The donkey had saved Balaam's life three times that morning, and all he could see was an animal that wouldn't cooperate. The professional prophet was spiritually blind. The donkey had sharper spiritual sight than the man who rode her.
God used the most unlikely creature to stop a man who was about to walk straight into destruction. Not a vision. Not a thunderclap. A donkey.
What This Means for You
Sometimes the interruptions you're frustrated by are actually interventions. The delay, the detour, the thing that won't go the way you planned -- look again. God has used animals, circumstances, and the most unexpected messengers to protect people since the beginning. If your path keeps getting blocked, maybe stop fighting and ask what's in the road.