If we could interview the donkey on which Jesus took his triumphal ride into Jerusalem, we might ask questions such as:
How did you feel? Dumbest question in journalism. But not in this case. How did you feel?
Why were you chosen?
How did your master treat you?
What was it like carrying Jesus?
Were you returned to your master?
The donkey belonged to this certain man to whom Jesus sent his disciples.
A certain man.
This certain man didn’t need a name or a public reputation. Jesus knew he was just the right person to let such a precious piece of property go without stipulations or regrets. But cheerfully and without hesitation.
Jesus didn’t need any negatives surrounding his ride, nothing selfish, nothing doubtful…
And he could only have gotten that thing from that certain man at that time.
Sometimes we’re raising our hands like we did in third grade…ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh…call on me over here. And we’re volunteering for something that looks like something we want to do, not realizing that we are not the person for the task in that moment.
God is so good, so smart, so genius in fact that he knows in every second who is ordained to fulfill whatever task is needed in the moment. Imagine that.
No other donkey would have sufficed. No other donkey from any other owner could have sufficed. That donkey had been fed the exact feed that strengthened his muscles to the exact degree that allowed him to carry the Savior with the exact gait producing the exact triumphal stance that exacted the perfect amount of attention from the waiting crowd to signal to them that the rider on this donkey was different from riders on other donkeys, to signal to them that the rider on this donkey was indeed the king they’d been waiting for to push their praise buttons to let go with the hosannas and the waving of the palm leaves.
No other donkey. No other donkey owner.
When you operate in your gifting, it should be as if you’re the only donkey in the world at that moment and no other donkey could suffice.
Wouldn’t you rather …rather than toot your own horn, build your own kingdom, create your own press buzz, assemble your own entourage…
Wouldn’t you rather be the unnamed person Jesus can depend on?
I would.
Dorothy Scott Boulware 