A Woman and a Donkey

As we near Christmas, it would be logical to assume a story bearing a title like this would concern the pregnant Mary on her way to Bethlehem. But not so. Didn’t your mother teach you to never “assume”? This story IS about a journey, though. In fact, the journey my wife and I have embarked on has caused us to travel more than 4X as far as Mary and Joseph journeyed before Jesus was born. Of course, our travel was not by donkey. More on the donkey later. 

Has God ever led you to step out of faith? He did that to Abram when God challenged him to go to a place he didn’t know and settle there. Our journey is a bit like that. Have you ever been led by God to do something about which you weren’t really certain the purpose or the outcome? After all, God isn’t obligated to explain His purposes to His servants, He just expects us to obey. Our journey is a bit like that. 

Have you been placed in situations when you asked God what He was trying to accomplish and all you heard back was…nothing? How could God speak so clearly when directing us and yet when we seek clarification, we have a hard time hearing from Him? Here we are in the middle of what God is doing, but we aren’t sure how we fit into His plans. Ever been there? Our journey is a bit like that. 

Not all Christ-followers are patient. We should be, but we aren’t. We long to know how God’s plans will impact us, and to know just what His will is for us. So we ask Him. And we discover that we have been asking the wrong question all along. God has a plan, but our problem is that His plan is so much more complex and amazing than we could comprehend, so He doesn’t waste time explaining Himself to us. He just speaks, and we obey. Our journey is a bit like that. 

So what about the donkey? Here’s the story from Scripture as Jesus arrived in a small village outside Jerusalem five days before He would be crucified: 

As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead.  “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.” Matthew 21:1-3 NLT 

Before Jesus could appropriate the young donkey colt He would ride towards Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday, an unnamed owner had to purchase a donkey, feed it, and care for it during a long pregnancy. He had to serve as midwife when the young male donkey was born and then care for both animals until the Master required them. His service to Jesus wasn’t without cost or effort. The owner had to deal with a stubborn animal and had to have a willingness to get his hands dirty. 

It’s become more and more apparent that the move God led my wife and me to take isn’t about us, but about Him. We servants of the Most High may have lots of questions and very few answers. But sometimes, our obedience is all about being the donkey. It’s about being in the right place when the Master needs us. It’s about being a piece on the chessboard of Kingdom-work, moving according to the King’s direction, and being in place to execute God’s strategy when the time comes. Our journey is a LOT like that. 

Why the title, A Woman and a Donkey? If you knew us, you wouldn’t even have to ask the question. 

Waiting in place, 

Jacob