Motivation and a donkey

Part 1: Love is Life's motivator:

Read 1 Corinthians 13. In verses 4-7 replace the words "love" or "it" with your first name. Here goes...

Leah is patient and kind; Leah does not envy or boast; Leah is not arrogant or rude. Leah does not insist on her own way; Leah is not irritable or resentful; Leah does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Leah bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things endures all things.

And how many of those statements are true? Ok, how many of them are true all the time??? err...ummm...ehhhh...yeah. Especially on that "own way" part. Boom...roasted.

Part 2: unstoppable

So, that story in Numbers about Balaam and his donkey. Apparently, I wasn't listening that day in OT survey. Anyway, what a great lesson God taught Balaam. And that poor donkey, probably got kicked until his ribs were bruised just because he saw the angel. What a good illustration of how we can get in our own way. "...not every obstacle is meant to be overcome. Some are placed by God to keep us from doing something foolish. When our plans are hindered, we shouldn't assume that it's Satan trying to stop us. It might be God trying to protect us."

Well here's a question, how do we know when it's the good guy and when it's the bad guy? At what point are we to know when we are acting on faith and pressing on through tribulation? Or when we are being dumb little children who are stubborn and think we know better than God? Good question brain...good question.