False and Dangerous Assumptions

Joshua 22:11-12, 16 Now the children of Israel heard someone say, “Behold, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan—on the children of Israel’s side.” And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them. “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord: ‘What treachery is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel this day against the Lord?

One of the things that often causes conflict and division within the body of Christ is our tendency to make false and dangerous assumptions about other people's motives for what they do. We often criticize others for something they have done, or for a particular way they are serving, without first stepping back and considering that there is more to the story than what we are seeing. We do not have the ability to see the "big picture" as God sees it, and we certainly do not have the ability to see what is in another person's heart. Here we have a perfect example of what happens when we make false assumptions about other people's motives and heart intentions. The children of Reuben, of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh kept their promise to go across the Jordan to help the rest of the Israelites conquer the land promised to them by the Lord. On their way back to the land given to them by the Lord, through Moses, they decided to build an altar as a memorial to the Lord. Upon overhearing someone talk about this...I call that gossip...the children of Israel immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion and prepared to go to war with their own people, who, by the way, sacrificed their own lives to help them obtain the land they now possessed. How often have we been on either side of this fence, when someone misinterpreted something we did or said, or maybe we were the one guilty of falsely judging someone else's statement or actions? This is the stuff that unnecessary conflict and division are made of, and the kind of stuff that the devils love to promote amongst God's people. We must be extremely careful about judging other people's motives and intentions, as only God knows the heart. The best approach we can take when faced with confronting something we perceive as offensive or ungodly is to first inquire with the person(s) involved, before we open our mouths and prove ourselves to have been presumptuous and foolish. By doing this we will avoid unnecessary conflicts and divisions that do not honor God and give our testimony, for Jesus, a black-eye. Let us always approach these occasions with love and an open mind. We may find, in the end, that what was being done was actually God-led, and done for the glory of God...because God's ways are not our ways.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 7:23). 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 His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).