Question 1

In what ways do assumptions hurt people? What is the danger of making assumptions?

Accepted Answer

1 Samuel 1:12-16As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her. Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!” “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.”An assumption can be harmful when it presumes to know an answer before a question is asked. Often, assumptions are unfair and harmful when they judge another person before the facts are fully known.Job 11:13-14“If only you would prepare your heart and lift up your hands to him in prayer! Get rid of your sins, and leave all iniquity behind you.”Sometimes an assumption asks the right question, but it can be harmful when it jumps too quickly to the wrong answer. In this case, Job’s friends couldn’t explain why Job was suffering, so they assumed he had sinned and was being punished by God. They were asking a very natural question—Why?—but they had reached the wrong conclusion.Isaiah 55:8“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”Assumptions can be harmful when we think we totally understand God and why he does what he does. Our natural assumptions rarely align themselves with the way God thinks. If you want to understand how God acts, we must work to understand how he thinks.Genesis 43:18The brothers were terrified when they saw that they were being taken into Joseph’s house. “It’s because of the money someone put in our sacks last time we were here,” they said. “He plans to pretend that we stole it. Then he will seize us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.”2 Samuel 10:3The Ammonite commanders said to Hanun, their master, “Do you really think these men are coming here to honor your father? No! David has sent them to spy out the city so they can come in and conquer it!”Fear can cause us to assume the worst about people and their intentions. If we consistently assume the worst about others, we will become suspicious and paranoid and harm others by trying to keep them away from us.Proverbs 25:8Don’t be in a hurry to go to court. For what will you do in the end if your neighbor deals you a shameful defeat?Assumptions can be harmful when made too quickly, which is often the case. An old saying states, “Haste makes waste.” When we are too quick to judge before having all the information, we make poor decisions that we later regret.Genesis 18:12So she laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?”Assumptions made from a human viewpoint can lead to actions made only from a human viewpoint. This can hurt us because we may close the door to God’s miracles. When we are open to the possibility of God working in our lives, we begin to see his work around us more clearly. God promises to work in in and through us, but we must see life from his perspective or else we will be blind to his work.Job 10:13-14“Yet your real motive—your true intent—was to watch me, and if I sinned, you would not forgive my guilt.”Ecclesiastes 10:13Fools base their thoughts on foolish assumptions, so their conclusions will be wicked madness.Wrong assumptions hurt because they lead to wrong conclusions. And wrong conclusions lead to wrong actions.1 Timothy 1:4Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God.Wrong assumptions can be harmful because they can lead to arguments and even threaten our relationships with others. When we assume we are right and that the other person is wrong, we will set out to prove our rightness and their wrongness. This puts us in the dangerous position of judging others and ascribing guilt to someone who might not be guilty. It also makes us look foolish when our assumptions prove incorrect.Acts 9:13“But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem!”Jonah 3:10–4:2When God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn’t carry out the destruction he had threatened. This change of plans upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it.An assumption can be harmful when it causes us to give up on people instead of seeing them the way God does. Jonah assumed that the Ninevites should not be saved because they were evil. But God has the power to change lives, even those who seem so far from him.Acts 7:25“Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t.”An assumption can be harmful when it causes misunderstandings that damage relationships. If an assumption begins with a flawed premise, it will surely lead to a flawed conclusion.

Question 2

What should I not assume?

Accepted Answer

Matthew 3:9-10“Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”John 14:6Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”No of us should assume that we have been good enough to earn eternal life. The Bible says that the only way to receive eternal life is by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.Malachi 1:2“I have always loved you,” says the Lord. But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?”Malachi 2:17You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. You have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”Romans 5:8-11God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. . . . So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.We should never assume that God doesn’t care about us. The evidence revealed in Scripture shows that he clearly does.Genesis 29:11-12Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and he wept aloud. He explained to Rachel that he was her cousin on her father’s side—the son of her aunt Rebekah. So Rachel quickly ran and told her father, Laban.Judges 6:13“Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”We should not assume that God won’t help us or doesn’t want to help us, for he has already done so in more ways than we know; and he will continue to do so. And we shouldn’t assume that we know better than God the best way through our problems.Acts 9:13, 15“But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! . . . But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.”We should not assume that certain people can’t change. Like the apostle Paul, the worst sinners in God’s eyes can become the mightiest of Christian leaders.Exodus 18:14-16, 21-22When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “What are you really accomplishing here? Why are you trying to do all this alone while everyone stands around you from morning till evening?” Moses replied, “Because the people come to me to get a ruling from God. When a dispute arises, they come to me, and I am the one who settles the case between the quarreling parties. I inform the people of God’s decrees and give them his instructions.” . . . [Jethro replied] “Select from all the people some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes. Appoint them as leaders over groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten. They should always be available to solve the people’s common disputes, but have them bring the major cases to you. Let the leaders decide the smaller matters themselves. They will help you carry the load, making the task easier for you.”We shouldn’t assume that we are the only ones who can do a job, for others might do better. Everyone can benefit from the help and advice of others.Job 5:27“We have studied life and found all this to be true. Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself.”We should never assume that we have all the answers because we do not even understand all the questions. Only God knows everything.John 6:5-7Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”We should not assume that our problems have no solutions, because God knows the solution before a problem begins.1 Chronicles 19:2-3David said, “I am going to show loyalty to Hanun because his father, Nahash, was always loyal to me.” So David sent messengers to express sympathy to Hanun about his father’s death. But when David’s ambassadors arrived in the land of Ammon, the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun, “Do you really think these men are coming here to honor your father? No! David has sent them to spy out the land so they can come in and conquer it!”We should not assume the worst in others because we may miss out when they want to give their best to us.Joshua 22:11-16, 21-22The rest of Israel heard that the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar at Geliloth at the edge of the land of Canaan, on the west side of the Jordan River. So the whole community of Israel gathered at Shiloh and prepared to go to war against them. First, however, they sent a delegation led by Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to talk with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. . . . When they arrived in the land of Gilead, they said to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, “The whole community of the Lord demands to know why you are betraying the God of Israel. How could you turn away from the Lord and build an altar for yourselves in rebellion against him? . . . Then the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the heads of the clans of Israel: “The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! He knows the truth, and may Israel know it, too! We have not built the altar in treacherous rebellion against the Lord. If we have done so, do not spare our lives this day.”We should never immediately assume that someone else is wrong. We may not have all the facts; we may be the one who is wrong.John 3:8“The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”Acts 10:34-35Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.”Acts 9:13, 15“But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! . . . But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.”Acts 16:27-30The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”We shouldn’t assume that someone will never respond to the Good News about God and refuse to receive the forgiveness he offers through Jesus.

Question 3

How can we avoid making assumptions that lead to bad decisions?

Accepted Answer

Genesis 12:2“I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.”Genesis 13:16“And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted!”Genesis 15:3“You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”Genesis 17:17-18Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. “How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought. “And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?” So Abraham said to God, “May Ishmael live under your special blessing!”Assumptions can be dangerous when we assume God won’t do what he has already promised to those who trust in him. We can avoid making false assumptions by not taking actions into our own hands without consulting God in prayer and through Scripture.Genesis 20:11Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘This is a godless place. They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.’”We should be aware of assumptions that lead to disobeying God. If we must prove a point by disobeying God, that point isn’t worth proving.Deuteronomy 13:12-14“When you begin living in the towns the Lord your God is giving you, you may hear that scoundrels among you are leading their fellow citizens astray by saying, ‘Let us go worship other gods’—gods you have not known before. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find that the report is true and such a detestable act has been committed among you. . . .”Joshua 22:13, 31They sent a delegation led by Phinehas son of Eleazar . . . Eleazar, the priest, replied to them, “Today we know the Lord is among us because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord as we thought. Instead, you have rescued Israel from being destroyed by the hand of the Lord.”Proverbs 18:17The first to speak in court sounds right—until the cross-examination begins.We can avoid making bad assumptions by thinking carefully about them before acting on them. Who would take medicine without first reading the label?