“And Balak said to Balaam, ‘What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.’” (Numbers 23:11)
When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness for forty years, they had some interesting adventures. At one point, they were camped near the land of the Moabites. Balak, the king of Moab, was afraid of them because there were so many of them. In order to get them out of the way for good, he decided to just curse them. So he sent for a man named Balaam to do the job. At first, Balaam refused to go, saying that God had told him not to curse the Israelites. But when Balak tried again—conveniently offering more honor and glory this time—Balaam agreed to come.
Balak’s plan was going beautifully. He knew that whomever Balaam cursed was definitely going to be in trouble; therefore, when Balaam finished with the Israelites, they would be mere pests to drive away. What could possibly go wrong?
There was just one thing both Balaam and Balak forgot to take into account: the Israelites were God’s chosen people. He wasn’t about to let Balaam just waltz in and curse them. So when Balaam opened his mouth to curse the Israelites, things became interesting. Instead of cursing them, he ended up blessing them four different times. This was extremely bad news for Balak; Balaam’s blessings were just as potent as his curses. His genius plan had gone horribly awry.
The thing is, we can’t fight against God. We can try, certainly. And sometimes, it seems like we may be winning. But God always wins. No matter who fights against Him, He’s always going to have the upper hand. No one—absolutely no one—can defeat Him. And here’s where it gets really exciting: if we’re with God, then He’ll be fighting for us, too. In the case of the Israelites, they were God’s people. He was with them, protecting them from their enemies. The God of the Bible is still God today. When we’re with Him, He fights for us, turning even curses into blessings. What an incredible God!