Wednesday, January 29, 2020
“Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” (Hebrews 13:2, New Living Translation) 

                Speaking of donkeys…

                Well, I briefly mentioned them, last week, as an animal I would like to have if I ever owned (as unlikely as it may seem) my retirement hobby farm. They are more than the stubborn, ornery creatures as they are sometimes portrayed. They are smart, mischievous and full of personality. A few years ago, we visited a donkey rescue sanctuary and were delighted at the many kinds of donkeys and their friendly natures.

                Consequently, I received a book at Christmas which is about a donkey, Flash.  And I would highly recommend this book written by Rachel Anne Ridge. The title is just Flash.  Flash is a homeless donkey who, one day, shows up in their driveway at their Texas home. He was shaggy, bedraggled, muddy, unkempt, and a closer look revealed several, bloody gashes from barb-wire fences. In short, he was a mess.

Against their better judgment Rachel and her husband Tom decided to rescue the donkey from off the road. But should they succeed, they intended that it would be only temporary (so they argued) as the last the thing they needed in their stressful, harassed, busy and barely-hanging-on-by-a-thread  lives was an abandoned, high-needs donkey.

Written from a Christian faith perspective without it being pompous or schmaltzy or overly pious, the whole story is about how the relationship between the donkey and this family taught them some valuable lessons about faith and coping when life is tough and seemingly out of control. As she wrote, “We were living our dream. Only it had become a nightmare.”

Gradually, the story evolves of a growing relationship between Flash and the family which ends up teaching them, Rachel, especially, about how to trust God in troubled times, when the going is tough and the future is cloudy. This unexpected and, at first, unwelcome shaggy visitor turns out to be more than just a lost donkey.  “The donkey did not look like a miracle. He looked like a lot of trouble.”

Without going into the several lessons that Rachel learned from Flash the donkey, the whole story has reminded me how God’s Love and Grace may show up in all sorts of ways and means, maybe even in unexpected, unlikely messengers. We may not always recognize or welcome this “intrusion”, and therefore not see it for what God means it to be, a gift, or better, a life-line. She writes, “It would have been the easiest thing in the world to simply ignore him, drive up to the house, get ready for bed, and then pull the covers over our heads.”

But, for whatever reasons, they didn’t. They took the donkey in. It helped change their lives.

“We thought we were rescuing a donkey that night. 

But the reality is, God had sent the donkey to help rescue us. 

We were the ones needing help. We were the ones who needed to know we were not alone. That God had not forgotten us. That He had a purpose for us. That we mattered to Him. We needed to know God was with us, and that we should still rely on Him. We needed to know He could reach down and make something good happen, and that He could still speak to ordinary people like us. 

So He put a donkey in the driveway.

And we could have driven right by.

But we would have missed the very thing we needed most.”

Speak of entertaining angels…

Dale