One small leap to a wrong assumption

I was glad the friend from church stopped by my office yesterday. She had misunderstood a simple thing I had recently done in a service. She was tempted to assume that I was acting to control a situation. But, being a gracious and mature Believer, realized that she had to talk with me about what seemed, on the surface, to be as plain as day. In our conversation my action was set in context and she realized that I had no hidden motive. If I were guilty of anything, it was being insensitive to the moment because I was unaware of what was going on. What if she had not taken the time to come by and talk to me for 15 minutes? What kind of fertile ground might the Enemy of God and good found in which to grow seeds of suspicion and/or alienation?

Ever made the leap to a conclusion because you just knew the obvious? I can say that I have been there, done that, and lived to regret it. What actually happens; what a person intends to happen; and what we think we saw happen; are often three unrelated tales. Our state of mind influences the information taken in by our senses, doesn't it? If we are fatigued, discouraged, or angry - an innocuous comment can sound like a thunderous criticism. If we have a preconceived idea of what we want to happen, we may too quickly assume that everybody knows what we're trying to do and fail to bring them up to speed on our background thinking that gives context to our present decision.

Even our worldview can be faulty and cause us to misinterpret the facts, so that we come to the wrong conclusion, misjudge another, or even blame God! Jesus disciples had been trained by their religious leaders, wrongly, to think that if someone was suffering, there was a direct line of cause and effect. Suffering indicated sin and judgment, or so they thought. The truth was very different, as they learned from the Master.
" As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.
"Rabbi," his disciples asked him, "why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?"
"It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins," Jesus answered. "This happened so the power of God could be seen in him." (John 9:1-5, NLT)

So many troubles and problems within the church would be eliminated if we would just be courageous enough to talk to one another and to the Lord!
"Why did you do that?"
"What did you mean?"
"Are you angry with me?"
These are simple questions, left unasked and therefore, unanswered, too often. In both our relationships one another and in our love for God, we must have faith. Peter says, "Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything." (1 Peter 4:8, The Message)
" Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner. " (1 Peter 4:12-13, The Message)

The Devil's strategy of 'divide and conquer' is defeated when we keep our heart and mind open, when we quickly take our concerns to one another, when we trust God to care for us - even in the most difficult situations. Think today about this... Have I misjudged another? Have I allowed myself to make an assumption about God's purposes without praying to know them? Am I making one small leap to a wrong assumption?