“Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honour.”-Numbers 24:11
FOMO. Fear
of missing out. Slang term that means
having anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening
elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on social media (Oxford). Fear, the motivating factor that drives so
much of what we do and how we respond to the culture around us.
Balaam the prophet was persuaded by the King of
Moab (Balak) to curse the people of God (the children of Israel). King Balak clearly believed that Balaam cursing
his enemies would assure him of success.
So much so that he offered honor and riches for Balaam’s services. Sending his best men to try and persuade Balaam
to come and speak a word in Balak’s favor.
However, Balaam was not a prophet for hire, and despite his character flaws
he maintains his integrity in this instance.
Balaam would not say any more or less than what God told him to say; and
God told him three times to bless the children of Israel. King Balak promised riches and honor, saying “I
thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee
back from honour.” To me, this sounds exactly like the voice of Satan
himself. The devil would gladly try and convince
us that serving God keeps us back from so many things. Honor that we could gain. The friends that we could acquire. Fun that we could have. Pleasure we might enjoy. He wants us to think of the places we could
go, if we would but curse God, and embrace the ways of this world. His deception knows no bounds. He wants us to focus on all the “cannot’s.” Cannot go where you want, do what you want,
be who you want, love who you want, and enjoy what you want. All this bondage, he would say! It started in the garden of Eden, when God
said you cannot eat of the tree lest ye die.
Satan came to Eve and said: “ye shalt not surely die.” The words of Balak, and the lies of Satan
have a kernel of truth in them (as every convincing lie does). God certainly keeps us back from things, but
for our good and His glory. Kept back
from honor? What honor? How fleeting the praise of men. From pleasure? The pleasure of the world is laced with
corruption and destruction. Can gold and
silver endure beyond the grave? God
keeps us from being beholden to and beholden by the things that have little profit,
and God leads us to that which endures forever.
As the hymn writer once said: “I am drinking at the fountain, Where I
ever would abide; For I've tasted life's pure river, And my soul is satisfied; There's
no thirsting for life's pleasures, Nor adorning, rich and gay, For I've found a
richer treasure, One that fadeth not away.”
When we fear God and keep his commandments it
brings us into fellowship with God Almighty, and whatever we sacrifice here is
nothing compared to the reward that awaits in Heaven. In addition to that, we have the privilege
and pleasure of knowing the voice of the Lord and being His child.
