Day 125: Let's Not Jump to Conclusions

I’m pretty sure we all have that one friend or family member that could win the gold medal for jumping to conclusions. Even when it’s out of nowhere, and over the smallest things. We all know that one person that makes a big deal out of nothing, and complicates life more than it has to be. We all know this person, and if you don’t know this person...you most likely are this person 😁. I think we have all been in this place in our life, and are probably still going through it. I know me personally, I can be the queen of jumping to conclusions, I can jump to a conclusion faster than a from leaps through lily pads.

Today I want to talk about how we sometimes do this in our relationships with God. We think we know how the story is going to end or what will happen because we got a small taste of something. when we really have no idea.

Proverbs 28:5

Don't jump to conclusions - there may be a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw.

You ever see or hear something, and automatically come up with some type of conclusion as a reflection of what you just witnessed.  Like an argument over text, you read a text message, you can’t really know the tone of it, because it's a text message, but you create it in your head. Thus leading to an argument over assumption. Parents jump to conclusions when children are being nice and doing things we weren’t asked to do, like cleaning. They assume that we must want something. Most of the time we do but that's not the point right now. They assume before they know, but we still love them. 👅😂 My point is we have all done it, and many of us still do.

Genesis 12: 10-20

Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance,12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 17 But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” 20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

Now here is a story of what can happen when you jump to conclusions too quickly. Abram probably won a lot of brownie points with his wife for this one. He told her she was so beautiful that other men might kill him in order to have her. So he came up with the plan to say they were siblings. When Pharaoh finds out he angrily sends them away. Abram could have just said, this is my wife and not been kicked out by Pharaoh. Pharaoh obviously was grieved that he almost had another man's wife. Jumping to conclusions got them both kicked out. 

Sometimes we do this to the people in our lives who mean well and even to God. We assume the worst when, if we just take the time to understand what is going on it might not be that bad. You ever concluded that God wasn’t listening or didn’t care because you did not get an immediate response, or something did not work out the way you planned. I know I have. Sometimes it’s unintentional, there’s this whole “if this, then that" theory. If God doesn’t do this by this time, then He must not want me to have it. Or if God doesn't answer, when I want Him to, then He must not be listening. That is not always the case, God is working on us, and His timing is perfect, and sometimes at the onset of trouble we assume we know how this story is going to end. Sometimes we come to the conclusion that God is punishing us for something we did wrong. God can be preparing us for a blessing or preparing us for something He is about to do in our lives but because we are so quick to jump the gun and assume, we end up standing there with our mouths open in shock when we realize what He is really doing. We can’t jump to the end before we take the journey. Sometimes the end we see is just a mountain blocking the finish line.

We also do it to other people, as Abram did to Pharaoh, and all the men of Egypt. We assume we know something about people because of what we see or feel. Abram did not give the men of Egypt a chance before coming to the conclusion that they would kill him for his wife. How many times have we done this to someone, rather it be someone we know well, or not that much? It happens a lot in relationships and friendships. The moment something doesn’t go as we think it should we assume the worst. We pull away when we think our relationships are going south. Without first taking the time to suss through what is actually going on. It may not be what we think.

Have you ever been in a position where someone assumed that you were leading a life of sin because they haven’t seen you at church in a while? Or because you are “acting different”? Or have we done it to someone else? We cannot assume we know what’s going on in someone’s life if we never talk to them. We cannot assume we know what God is doing if we only go to him when we need something.

Moral of the story, our minds can sometimes deceive us, it’s a human flaw. But we do not have to act on the conclusions we jump to. Make sure we know the full story before we assume. We might realize that we were wrong.

Reflection

1. Are you one to jump to conclusions?
2. What was the outcome?
3. Do you think jumping to a conclusion is helpful? Why or why not?

Prayer Time

Allow your  answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Speak to God about what ever resonated with you.  Have a conversation with Him.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing Day or Evening! Share this with someone, without being subliminal, and make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 126!