TWILY Ministries
| Love Notes | February 2010
"Jumping to Conclusions!"
My drive
to work had been pretty
interesting, and it left me thinking about something that
many of us have engaged ourselves in, that being: Jumping to conclusions. Days later, still
on my mind, I strayed from my planned topic of study, and began to
search for cases in the Bible that depicted people doing the very same thing - jumping to conclusions. There were
several great examples, but the one that grabbed my attention was found in the
book of Joshua,
Chapter 22, verses 10-34.
If you have read that Old Testament narrative, you
may recall that the three tribes who lived East of the Jordan, Reuben,
Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, had erected
a large altar near the border - with
no ill-intent at all. However, when the tribes living West of the
Jordan "heard"
about the altar, they decided
to "go to war against them" and why? Well, because they thought
the Eastern tribes had erected the altar in "rebellion to God",
but they were SO wrong and you know, although that happened a long time
ago, the point I'm about to make, remains true even today:
Jumping to conclusions can cause someone to get
hurt! - or bring them pretty close to it!
It's true, and my ride to work had provided a fresh reminder
of that truth. It hadn't been snowing or anything, but for some unknown reason, a 10-minute ride
was taking twice as long. That's when I started really looking ahead, desperately trying to discover the
reason why. Here's what I discovered:
Two cars up, there was a woman who was driving rather slowly. Although I couldn't
see much detail, I could see that she had her left hand up to
her face - and seemed totally
unfazed, too! What else could I see? - the man behind her. He
was beyond agitated, way more than
someone just wanting their cup of coffee; I mean, really! He had me trembling
and I wasn't even "the hold-up." Blowing his horn, he
pulled up very close to her car - nearly hitting her! Oh, don't get me
wrong, it was QUITE aggravating, especially if you were in a hurry, but
it wasn't that serious.
Anyway,
he finally changed lanes, but NOT BEFORE giving her that get-off-the-phone-and-drive
stare, and me? You're wondering what
was I doing? PRAYING! - See, I was driving a RECALLED vehicle that had
not been fixed; so, you can understand that "just being
able to drive slowly", was a wonderful thing! Still, though, I was
curious and couldn't wait to see whether she was actually on the phone - “Impeccable
boldness!”, I thought.
Well, after she changed lanes and I had pulled up a
bit, I didn't stare, but I did manage to "sneak a peek",
and you know what? She wasn't even on the phone; No! She was holding an
icepack - or something of that nature
- up to her face. Talk about a big JUMP! Again I say...
Jumping to conclusions can cause someone to get
hurt! - or bring them pretty close to
it, and BOY, had she come close!
So did the three Eastern tribes!
Fortunately, though, for them, the Western
tribes had gone over to "reason with them"
before actually going to war. When they did,
they learned the truth. Here's what happened:
15 When they went to Gilead-to Reuben, Gad and the
half-tribe of Manasseh-they said to them: 16
"The whole assembly of the LORD says: 'How could you break faith
with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the LORD and
build yourselves an altar in rebellion against him now?
- NIV
The Eastern tribes responded to them:
27 On the contrary, it [the
Altar] is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that
follow, that we will worship the LORD at his sanctuary with our burnt
offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings. Then in the future your
descendants will not be able to say to ours, 'You have no share in the LORD.'
The Bible says "hearing the truth
made them happy! No more did they talk about going to war against them!" Indeed, the truth had set them free and one might say
they went from JUMPING to conclusions to LEAPING for joy!
Friends, I think that's the question I'll leave you
with: Isn't leaping for joy a much better
exercise to engage ourselves in? Sure it is, and you know, while we can't
do much - other
than communicate - to keep others from jumping to conclusions
where we're concerned, we definitely can prevent
"going to war" against innocent people, by first setting out to seek
the truth! Remember, things aren't always as they appear, so
why not seek the Lord regarding the matter? By His
Spirit, He is able to guide us to the truth, and with the "war
called off", we all will be happy,
free, and leaping for joy!
Thank you for reading this "very late" issue of Love Notes. Please don't forget to read Joshua 22:10-34 in its entirety, so you can get the
full context.
Take care and God willing, see you really soon.
Please keep praying for me; I'm praying for
you!
Sincerely,
Joyce Bailey
© February 2010 Joyce Bailey
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