JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS

Before dawn one morning, you position yourself on a small hill from which you can see the entire horizon. You spend the day there, watching and trying to understand how the sun and the earth work together in the solar system. You observe the sun as it begins its ascent in the east and watch it slowly make its way across the sky throughout the day, and then descend in the west.

With no prior knowledge of the solar system, what you just observed could very easily lead you to conclude that the sun revolves around the earth. Of course, that conclusion would be false but based on what you had seen, it would seem to be an appropriate conclusion.

Sometimes we Christ followers are guilty of “jumping to a conclusion” when we don’t take time to fully understand what God is doing or what He says about the matter under discussion.

A problem in the church has been the issue of “proof texting,” which means isolating one Scripture, often lifting it out of context, and giving it a meaning that is different or exaggerated from the passage. Would you like to prove from Scripture that suicide is permissible? You can do that by lifting verses out of context and linking them together—but you will end up with a false conclusion.

When God begins to do something new in your life and the full revelation of it has not yet come, don’t be guilty of jumping to a conclusion too quickly. A lot of us have made mistakes by being too quick to reach a conclusion, only to find out that our hasty thoughts were not fully what God had in mind.

Simple rules to follow

1. Pray…pray…and then pray some more!

If your new direction in thought or ministry cannot wait for a few weeks or months of prayer, then it very likely is not of God. A wise friend once counseled me, “Take time to pray over the matter. If it still burns brightly in your spirit after a few weeks of prayer, then it’s of God. If the issue you are praying about loses your interest, it’s not of Him. So take the time to really pray!”

2. Don’t be in a rush!

Our modern minds tend to push past the fact that after Paul was converted on the road to Damascus, he spent several years in Arabia learning how to be a follower of Christ. Moses spent 40 years in the desert learning how to be a leader (obviously he was a slow learner).

3. What does the Bible have to say?

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105 NKJV).
God’s Word will speak to you about your situation. Your responsibility is to take the time to read and to listen.

4. What do my trusted adviser/friends have to say?

“Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14 KJV).
Reach out to wise counsel and listen.

In 1815 all of Europe waited in suspense for news of the battle being fought between the English forces led by the Duke of Wellington, and the French emperor Napoleon. For decades Europe had been in turmoil because of Napoleon. Wars had been fought, thousands of French nobles had been killed by Napoleon, and turmoil had reached out across all Europe. The nations of Europe thought they had seen the last of Napoleon, as he had been defeated and sentenced to exile, but he escaped. He put together a huge army and was committed to defeating the English and its allied army led by Wellington.

All Europe, and especially England, waited for word of the decisive battle being fought at Waterloo in Belgium. A sailing ship was stationed offshore to relay the message to be signaled by coded flags. A lookout on the top of Winchester Cathedral finally began to read the flags on the sailing vessel, but got only the first two words before fog descended and obscured his view. The message read: “Wellington defeated….” And that was the message sent throughout the British Isles. Shock and depression spread at the devastating news. Several hours later the fog lifted and the lookout was able to read the full message: “Wellington defeated the enemy.”

The moral of this story is, don’t jump to conclusions before the fog has cleared.

After David was anointed by Samuel and he killed Goliath, he seemed to be on a fast track to leadership. He was semi-adopted into King Saul’s family, but then very quickly the whole situation began to disintegrate. Saul revealed his jealousy and tried to kill David. I wonder what went through David’s mind when he realized that the spear in Saul’s hand was meant to kill him. “Well, there goes my career in leadership and high office…this thing is over and done. I’m dead meat!” Jumping to that conclusion at that time would have been a natural thought but totally wrong; there was still too much fog. In the confusion of the moment, David fled with Saul’s men hot on his trail. Within a short time both Samuel and Jonathan reassured David that he was not going to die and that he would be the next king and, indeed, they were right!

It’s so easy to jump to conclusions rather than to wait and trust…or maybe I’m the only one who struggles with this.

So when God begins to speak to you about something new, remember the illustration of the rising and setting of the sun. Without time to understand the full picture, you may jump to the wrong conclusion.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 NIV). This verse was written by a Jewish zealot who initially thought he might be having a brain hemorrhage as he travelled to Damascus…or perhaps I jumped to a conclusion on what he thought.