Daily Verse Devo - Numbers 23:19

"God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?"

-Numbers 23:19 (NLT)

These words were surprisingly spoken by the wicked prophet Balaam.

You may recognize his name, as in the story of the talking donkey (Numbers 22).

Balaam was a prophet of the Lord, but his heart wasn't in the right place. Balak, the king of Moab, wanted to pay Balaam to curse Israel. Balaam was willing to do so, but had no prophetic ability on his own. He had to say the words the Lord put in his mouth.

So in front of Balak, Balaam ended up uttering blessings on Israel and not curses - 3 times!

Balaam couldn't directly curse Israel, but he later worked out a scheme where Balak could entice the Israelites with idolatry and prostitution.

So while Balaam himself is untrustworthy (he vaguely reminds me of Benedict Arnold), God's words are nonetheless true.

Numbers 23:19 reveals God's character:

-He does not lie

-He does not change his mind

-He always follows through with what He's said

As humans, it is impossible for us to live up to this standard. Balaam himself lied and deceived Israel.

Yet, we serve a flawless God.

It's hard to trust people. I've been let down too many times to fully take someone at their word.

When I was seven, I took swimming lessons at the Y. I was terrified of being underwater and absolutely afraid to jump in. One instructor promised me a cookie if I did. When I finally did jump, I never got the cookie.

At one point, a youth leader at church promised trips and activities galore, but seldom followed through.

I'm sure you've had experiences like this too.

Not going on a trip or getting a cookie isn't the end of the world, but sometimes people don't keep their word on bigger promises - the husband who says he'll stop looking at porn, but doesn't; the woman who says she'll stop drinking, but doesn't; etc.

But with God, that's not the case. He is trustworthy. God doesn't let circumstances or feelings detour Him from fulfilling what He's promised.

No matter how much people have let us down, we can always depend on God. He will never fail us and His word will always stand.