Wrong Perceptions

Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 1:12-14, And it happened, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli watched her mouth. 13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14 So Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!”

Here is a situation that we can relate to from both sides of the fence. In the process of doing, or trying to do, what is right before God, and going by His leading, someone else has a misperception of what we are doing and we become the target of their gossip and criticism. By the same token, if we are honest and willing to admit it, we have done the same to others. Hannah, in response to how Peninnah was persecuting her went to the Lord in prayer. There are many ways that we can go before the Lord in prayer, and in this instance, Hannah was praying in her heart (as God knows our thoughts and what is in our hearts; Psalm 44:21). Her words were not audible, and Eli the priest misinterpreted what he saw and made a false accusation against her. If anyone should have been more careful, and used more wisdom, before speaking, it should have been the man of God. Yet, here we find Eli putting his foot in his mouth. Considering the location of this event, and what generally takes place here, it may have been easily deduced, if the time had been taken to step back and consider, that someone may have actually been at the house of the Lord praying. Eli’s mistake was that he did not fully try to investigate or understand what was happening before he spoke. Proverbs 18:13 says, “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.” We must be careful that we not misjudge a situation or a person’s intentions by our own misperceptions. A good rule of thumb to follow, before we criticize something that seems questionable to us, is to think better of others than of ourselves. Philippians 2:3 puts it plainly, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” Sadly, a lot of legalistic and “religious” Christians are quick to criticize others for what they perceive as being ungodly, when the Scriptures do not actually condemn something. We must be careful not to turn our personal convictions into “Thus sayeth the Lord”, when God did not say it. As God’s children, we do have liberty to serve God in the manner He leads us to, even if it does not agree with other Christians’ methodology. The Bible is clear that we are not to use our liberty in Christ to sin or to cause our brother/sister to stumble, but we can certainly use it to our advantage, and for the furtherance of the Gospel. Galatians 5:13 clearly says, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” The Apostle Paul used his liberty in Christ to be all things to all men. He wrote this in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22 to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.” Hannah was doing nothing more than pouring out her heart before the Lord. Yet, it was perceived as an evil act by someone who should have known better. If we are not careful, our lack of restraint in speaking, and our lack of wisdom, can cause someone who has a heart for serving the Lord to be discouraged. When in doubt, we must be quiet, say a prayer asking the Lord for wisdom and then let Him lead in whether we should investigate further or simply mind our business. We may find that it comes down to a misperception on our part or something as simple as, “I wouldn’t do it that way, but if God is using them that way, then praise God.” I love what Jesus said to Peter when he inquired about John in John 21:22, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” If we find ourselves on the receiving end of criticism for something we are doing in serving the Lord, that is not sin, and is simply a method different than others, and a bit unconventional, then have the attitude the Apostle Paul had in Galatians 1:10, “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).