Deserts | Week 5 | Sermon · Rewind

Deserts | Week 5 | Sermon · Rewind

Pastor Daniel Goulding · Mar 25, 2024

Big Idea

Hearing God's voice is far more practical than mystical — God is always speaking, mainly through His Word, and the question is whether we're listening.

God is not mumbling in some mystical code that only super-spiritual people can decode — He wants to be heard, and He speaks primarily and clearly through His Word. Using the strange story of Balaam and his talking donkey, Pastor Daniel shows that when we ignore what God has already made clear, God will lovingly frustrate our path to get our attention, and the way back is humility, forgiveness, and repentance.

Key points

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1God asks questions not for information but for confrontation
When God asks Balaam 'who are these men?' it's not because He lacks knowledge, just like when He asked Adam 'where are you?' in the garden. Pastor Daniel explains God uses questions to get people to acknowledge where they really are and what they are entertaining.
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2You don't need to pray about things God has already answered in His word
Balaam already knew God would never let him curse His blessed people, yet he sought an answer in prayer anyway. Pastor Daniel says God's ways are already revealed in scripture, so many of the things we agonize over in prayer — like dating an unbeliever or a shady business idea — already have a clear answer if we know God's word.
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3Rationalizing over time turns a resisted temptation into a compromise
After Balaam said no once, the king sent a bigger offer and Balaam had twelve days to talk himself into reconsidering. Pastor Daniel warns that resisting temptation once doesn't mean it won't return stronger, and slowly rationalizing opens the door to compromise while still looking spiritual on the outside.
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4Right action with wrong motive is still compromise, and disobedience turns God from advocate to obstacle
God permits Balaam to go but only speak what he's told, and Balaam wrongly treats this concession as full blessing. Pastor Daniel points out God sees the heart, not just the action, and when we walk in rebellion God may lovingly become the obstacle in our path rather than our helper.
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5Frustration is often God's whisper trying to get our attention
The donkey sees the angel of the Lord and resists three times, and Balaam beats it in rage each time, taking his inner turmoil out on those around him. Pastor Daniel says God frustrates our path not to punish but to get us to the end of ourselves so we'll finally consider another way.
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6Restoration requires humility, seeking forgiveness, and repentance
Once God opens Balaam's eyes to the angel, Balaam bows low, confesses his sin, and commits to only doing what God says. Pastor Daniel walks through how Balaam's response models the path back to hearing God's voice: humble yourself, ask forgiveness from those you've hurt, and actually turn around rather than just feeling bad.
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7You cannot speak what you cannot hear
Pastor Daniel tells the story of Dr. Alfred Tomatis and an opera singer who lost the ability to sing notes he could no longer hear because his own voice had deafened him to them over thirty years. He applies this to believers today: our ability to speak a blessing or truth over others depends entirely on whether we've stayed able to hear God's voice.

Application

Pastor Daniel's charge is that God is always speaking, so the real question is whether we're always listening.

Check what you're praying about against God's word
Stop seeking a new answer in prayer to something scripture has already made clear, whether that's who to date, a shady business idea, or a decision God's character already settles.
Notice the frustration in your life
When roadblocks and irritability keep piling up, consider that it may be God's loving whisper trying to get your attention rather than random bad luck.
Humble yourself and ask God to open your eyes
Like Balaam, admit that striving on your own isn't working and ask God directly to help you see what you've been missing.
Go to the people you've hurt and ask forgiveness
Own the fallout from your own turmoil that landed on others, and actually apologize instead of just feeling bad about it.
Repent by actually turning, not just feeling sorry
Commit to a real change in direction and motivation this week, not just an emotional moment, so you can keep hearing and speaking God's voice.

Take it into your week

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7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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Day 1

The story of Balaam doesn't open with a talking donkey — it opens with a man who already knew what God wanted and started looking for a way around it. King Balak sends messengers with a tempting offer, and Balaam does something that looks spiritual on the surface: he says, 'Let me pray about it.' But God had already spoken. The answer was no. What Balaam was really doing was giving himself another night to hope the answer might change. Pastor Daniel named this honestly — we do the same thing. We pray for direction on questions Scripture has already answered. We ask God again, hoping this time He'll bless what we already want to do. The remarkable thing is that God doesn't walk away in disgust. He keeps engaging. He keeps speaking. That patience isn't permission, though — and Balaam's story will show us how easy it is to confuse the two. Today is simply an invitation to sit with this opening scene and ask an honest question: Is there something in your life right now where you already know what God has said, but you're still hoping for a different answer? That's not a condemnation — it's just the beginning of an honest conversation with Him.

For reflection

Is there a decision or situation in your life right now where you sense you already know what God's Word says, but you've been asking Him to confirm a different answer?

Pray

Pray for the courage to hear what God has already said, and for honesty about where you may have been hoping He'd say something different.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message takes one of the strangest stories in the Bible — a donkey that talks back to its owner — and asks a surprisingly personal question: what if God has been speaking all along, and the problem is on our end?

Discussion questions

1
In Numbers 22, Balaam is a prophet who already knows God's voice, yet he still ends up walking a path God opposes. What does that tell us about how subtle the drift from obedience into rationalization can be?
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Pastor Daniel made the point that God's concession — allowing Balaam to go — was not the same as God's blessing. How do people typically tell the difference between God's permission and God's approval, and where might that line get blurry?
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Pastor Daniel said the primary way God speaks to us is through Scripture — and that most of what we think we need to pray about already has an answer there. What does it look like practically for a community of people to treat the Word that way, rather than treating it as one voice among many?
4
The message describes frustration, turmoil, and relational conflict as potentially being God's loving obstruction — a whisper meant to turn us around. What would change about the way people interpret hard seasons if they approached them with that possibility in mind?
5
Pastor Daniel described the path back to hearing God's voice as moving through humility, seeking forgiveness from people we've hurt, and genuine repentance — not just regret, but actually turning around. Why do you think he put those steps in that particular order?
6
In John 10:27, Jesus says His sheep hear His voice. Pastor Daniel drew a connection between hearing God and being able to speak blessing and life into the people around us — like a singer who can't reproduce notes she can no longer hear. How might that shape the way a group like ours thinks about growing in our ability to encourage and build up one another?

Pray together

Asking God for the humility to hear what He's already been saying — and the courage to turn around wherever we've drifted

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Topics

God's Word Hearing God's Voice Obedience Rebellion and Restoration Repentance

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