Stop beating your donkey!

Donkey say dis world no level.

Every day yu beat donkey, some day he will kick yu.

Every donkey hab im shankey (his own mind)

Every jackass t’ink im pickney a racehorse.

Every man no dribe dem donkey same way.

Every time donkey bray, im member someting.

When yu go a donkey house don’t talk about ears.

No mek one donkey choke you.

The above phrases are Jamaican proverbs. These are just a few of the many proverbs that I was raised by. While I was growing up, my mother used proverbs to warn us of impending doom if we did not comply. She also used them to encourage us to be on our best behavior.

As a matter of fact, proverbs were used as a tool to instruct and discipline us, and I can assure you they used to scare the devil and foolish behavior out of us better than the belt.

Most times we did not understand the meaning of these proverbs and when we asked her she would never explain them to us.

I can remember obeying her warnings out of fear even though I did not understand the meaning of her words.

Can you imagine using my mother’s method to instruct this present generation of children?

The donkey was used as an example in many proverbs because its characteristics can help teach us about patience.

The donkey is believed to be a very stubborn animal and when he refused to budge it was difficult for anyone to get it to move.

Do you know that many people are more obstinate than a donkey?

If you find yourself beating your donkey to obey your command, chances are you are the problem, not the poor animal.

The Bible tells us about the story of Balaam and the donkey. You can refresh your memory about this story here.

Balaam was riding his donkey to carry out an illegal mission. The Lord sent an angel to block him from doing this task. The angel stood in the middle of the road with a sharp sword to kill Balaam.

However, Balaam did not see this angel, so he continued to ride his donkey blindly. Fortunately, the donkey saw the angel and turned off the road three times to avoid him.

The donkey’s action appeared contrary to Balaam’s direction and so he cruelly beat his donkey to comply, but the animal refused to budge

Who was more headstrong, the donkey or Balaam?

The person who could not see the angel was more stubborn.

The donkey had spiritual eyesight and was obedient to God, and so the Lord gave him a voice to speak His words.

A similar scenario is happening in the Church. Many pastors and leaders lack spiritual insight and so they have no knowledge nor vision. Consequently, they are whipping their donkeys ignorantly.

In other words, as a result, of their lack of spiritual vision they are stubborn and disobedient to the Lord and the sheep or members of the church are battered and bruised as a result of the whips of the enemies.

Pastors and leaders if you continue to beat your donkey, you are going to be disgraced when the Lord opened its mouth to declare His prophetic words for this generation instead of you.

Share with us your thoughts in the comment box below.

Do you understand the Jamaican proverbs above? If you do, share the meaning with us.

Do you want more Jamaican proverbs? Find it here!

Published by Beverley

Beverley has been serving the Lord since she was a child. At an early age, she recognized that God had a special plan for her life, but it was not until in her adulthood that she surrendered her total life to God and accepted the mandate that God placed on her life. The Lord called her into His Kingdom to be an encourager, intercessor, teacher, scribe, priest, and to proclaim the Word of God. Since then, Beverly has established a blog to teach us to become the oil and wine. The oil and wine are purified and mature products, which is the advanced level that the Lord expected of us. In 2017, Beverley published her first book, Harm Not The Oil And Wine. In it, she described her trials and how God helped her to overcome them, and to live more victoriously. The book also exposed the enemy of our souls with detailed information about his past defeats and future extinction. Wright spents most of her time studying the Bible to know the truth of God’s Word. She believes that only God’s truth can expose the deception of the enemy, and uproot and tear down spiritual strongholds. You can learn more about Beverley’s life and testimony on her website becomingtheoilandwine.com. You can also find her on Facebook and Google+ under the name of her blog, and on Twitter as @Theoilandwine. View all posts by Beverley