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

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?