If A Donkey Can See It, Why Can’t We

In the movie Flight, On October 14, 2011, Airline captain/recreational drug user Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) awakens after very little sleep and drinking alcohol. After using cocaine to help wake up, he boards South Jet flight 227 to Atlanta. After Whip threads the plane through severe turbulence at takeoff, co-pilot flies the airplane while Whip discreetly mixes vodka in his orange juice and takes a nap. Whip is jolted awake just before their final descent and the aircraft goes into a steep dive. Whip rolls the plane upside down to bring it out of the dive and maneuvers the plane right-side up just before crash-landing in a field.

Whip awakens in an Atlanta hospital with minor injuries. He is greeted by his old friend, who represents the airline's pilots union. He tells Whip his heroism saved 96 of 102 people on board. But as more is learned, more questions than answers arise, as to who or what was really at fault, and what really happened on that plane?

In Numbers 22, Balaam delivered positive blessings upon the Israelites, but he is reviled as a "wicked man.” Even though he refused to speak what God didn't speak and would not curse the Israelites, he was not totally “FREE” and had a habit, that arose when King Balak of Moab offered him money to go against God’s plan. His error and the source of his wickedness came from sabotaging the Israelites as they entered the Promised Land. According to Numbers 31:16 and Revelation 2:14, Balaam returned to King Balak and informed him how to get the Israelites to curse themselves, by enticing them with prostitutes and unclean food sacrificed to idols.

The Israelites fell into transgression due to these traps and God sent a deadly plague to them as a result. Whip Whitaker and Balaam: Two men, traveling two paths, with two miracles trying to prevent them from self-destruction. One by a miracle landing; the other, by a miracle donkey.

A. Like the donkey, we have to open our eyes to situations that lead us down a road - with a drawn sword

1. God sometimes allows the desires of the wicked to go forth

2. God was displeased because Balaam’s sin caused him to run greedily into an error, just for a reward

3. God gave Balaam up to his own heart’s lust

TRANS: They have left the straight way and wandered off, to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. 2 Peter 2:15

B. Like the donkey, we have to open our eyes to circumstances that take us down a narrow path - with walls on both sides

1. God doesn't allow wicked men to harm themselves, without sending his holy angels forth, to break the attempt

2. it is common for those whose hearts are set to do evil, to push on violently and break through difficulties meant to help, check themselves, before they wreck themselves

3. Those who willingly run headlong into sin, are angry at those that would prevent their ruin

TRANS: Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. Jude 1:11

C. Like the donkey, we have to open our eyes to conditions that take us to a narrow place – where there Is no room to turn

1. God wants us to realize that when we’re in the wrong place, He always has the right answer

2. God wants us to understand that a warning heeded, is a disaster avoided

3. God wants us to know, It's never too soon, to come back home

JUST BECAUSE BALAAM AND DENZEL’S CHARACTER DID A GOOD THING, IT DID NOT TAKE AWAY FROM THE FACT THAT, THEY STILL HAD SOME BAD HABITS, THAT KEPT THEM FROM BEING FREE. AS WE CLOSE, IS THERE ANYONE HERE, THAT IS READY TO BREAK THROUGH SITUATIONS WITH A DRAWN SWORD, WALLS ON BOTH SIDES, AND NO ROOM TO TURN? ARE YOU READY TO TELL THE LORD, TODAY—I WANT TO BE FREE? AGAIN, IF A DONKEY CAN SEE IT, WHY CAN’T WE.

GOD BLESS YOU.