***
I have missed this practice and community of writing for five minutes flat off of a One Word prompt --a Flashmob of writers all leaning in and seeing what spills out as the timer ticks away! This is a Five Minute Friday post...and our One Word Prompt is: ASSUME!
{GO!}
My eyes see the One Word Prompt and my heart is already mid-sentence before I even open the screen to write.
Oh - Assumptions... how they can boss us around!
I believe Assumptions and Ascribing Intent are two of the biggest tools of our enemy.
I know?! I feel the hugeness of that statement too and I wonder for just a moment if I am being dramatic... if I am overstating this thought.
So I slow... even as the timer ticks away... and I ask the Lord if I am on the right track here...
"Lord, what happens when we assume... when we write a story in our own mind in a flash with absolutely no facts or background... what is it that happens in our hearts?"
Immediately I felt His answer... "You are not wrong, Daughter. The enemy LOVES to use these as tools that BACK you into a CORNER!"
{Insert Heavy Sigh here.}
I mean, --right?
We've all done it!
We assume the worst about others... their motivations... their intent... their choices or habits or beliefs. We ascribe intent and write a story in our hearts about them before we have fleshed out any kind of actual conversation! We jump to conclusions on our own (with the enemy's help!) and we don't even notice we're doing it!
It's not even always in a negative light. Sometimes we assume the 'best' - we write a story and paint a picture and - well, before we know it, we have placed someone on a pedestal that there is no way they'll be able to stay up on, standing steady. There's not enough foundation... not enough Truth.
Whether we are doing it in a way that tears them down, or we're doing it in a way that lifts them up... - Man - you guys? - we must stop doing it!
These tools not only back US into a Corner, but they separate... they divide... they isolate, and lie.
None of these things sound like what the Lord would have us do... these are not the stories HE desires to write with our lives!
When we jump to conclusions and make assumptions without giving the benefit of the doubt, we cut ourselves off from blessings unaware!
He desires that we actually give grace and expect the best, while being willing to wait... to sow * into the relationship and grow a friendship and allow the story HE is writing to unfold and intertwine with our own.
We were made for Community and grafted into the Family... Rather than Assuming things... let's learn to ask better questions and be willing to wait and actually listen to the answers!
May we be willing to learn new things - slowly - over time, as we grow together in the Kingdom of God!
Something about, "One Lord, One God, One Faith..."Something about, "They will know us by our Love!"
{STOP!}
Don't you just LOVE people who ask great questions? People who are curious and open and who love well?
I'm sure you have been in the company of people who make assumptions and ascribe intent and it can feel very closed off and segregated... and I'm sure you have also met new people who are kind and curious and open to learning your story along the way...
May we be people who Hope and Expect the Best... who give the Benefit of the Doubt... and who ask great questions that lead us toward friendship, rather than wall us up away from it! May we be Brave & be willing to wait and learn the stories of people along the road as we help walk each other Home!
***
Speaking of Brave, one of the people who I think asks the best questions with honor and openness is Jennie Allen. Jennie asks the BEST questions! She teaches us how to NOT ascribe intent or make assumptions that divide... She encourages us to not just let our thoughts or the stories we make up in our heads go unchecked, but to find out people and stick it out. To be real, to love, and to know and be known!
In case you didn't know, Jennie Allen is the founder of IF, and the IF:Gathering is happening next weekend worldwide. (March 3rd and 4th).
It's always great to participate with friends or other women, but you are welcome to live stream it wherever you are on your own as well. I highly encourage you to watch it! Gather some friends, or brave an IF:Local.
Avoid making assumptions - but show up expecting God... you won't be disappointed!
Friends, until next time, let's remember to:
{GO!}
My eyes see the One Word Prompt and my heart is already mid-sentence before I even open the screen to write.
Oh - Assumptions... how they can boss us around!
I believe Assumptions and Ascribing Intent are two of the biggest tools of our enemy.
I know?! I feel the hugeness of that statement too and I wonder for just a moment if I am being dramatic... if I am overstating this thought.
So I slow... even as the timer ticks away... and I ask the Lord if I am on the right track here...
"Lord, what happens when we assume... when we write a story in our own mind in a flash with absolutely no facts or background... what is it that happens in our hearts?"
Immediately I felt His answer...
"You are not wrong, Daughter. The enemy LOVES to use these as tools that BACK you into a CORNER!"
{Insert Heavy Sigh here.}
I mean, --right?
I mean, --right?
We've all done it!
We assume the worst about others... their motivations... their intent... their choices or habits or beliefs. We ascribe intent and write a story in our hearts about them before we have fleshed out any kind of actual conversation! We jump to conclusions on our own (with the enemy's help!) and we don't even notice we're doing it!
We assume the worst about others... their motivations... their intent... their choices or habits or beliefs. We ascribe intent and write a story in our hearts about them before we have fleshed out any kind of actual conversation! We jump to conclusions on our own (with the enemy's help!) and we don't even notice we're doing it!
It's not even always in a negative light. Sometimes we assume the 'best' - we write a story and paint a picture and - well, before we know it, we have placed someone on a pedestal that there is no way they'll be able to stay up on, standing steady. There's not enough foundation... not enough Truth.
Whether we are doing it in a way that tears them down, or we're doing it in a way that lifts them up... - Man - you guys? - we must stop doing it!
These tools not only back US into a Corner,
These tools not only back US into a Corner,
but they separate... they divide... they isolate, and lie.
None of these things sound like what the Lord would have us do... these are not the stories HE desires to write with our lives!
He desires that we actually give grace and expect the best, while being willing to wait... to sow * into the relationship and grow a friendship and allow the story HE is writing to unfold and intertwine with our own.
When we jump to conclusions and make assumptions without giving the benefit of the doubt, we cut ourselves off from blessings unaware!
We were made for Community and grafted into the Family... Rather than Assuming things... let's learn to ask better questions and be willing to wait and actually listen to the answers!
May we be willing to learn new things - slowly - over time, as we grow together in the Kingdom of God!
Something about, "One Lord, One God, One Faith..."
Something about, "They will know us by our Love!"
{STOP!}
Don't you just LOVE people who ask great questions? People who are curious and open and who love well?
I'm sure you have been in the company of people who make assumptions and ascribe intent and it can feel very closed off and segregated... and I'm sure you have also met new people who are kind and curious and open to learning your story along the way...
May we be people who Hope and Expect the Best... who give the Benefit of the Doubt... and who ask great questions that lead us toward friendship, rather than wall us up away from it! May we be Brave & be willing to wait and learn the stories of people along the road as we help walk each other Home!
***
Speaking of Brave, one of the people who I think asks the best questions with honor and openness is Jennie Allen. Jennie asks the BEST questions! She teaches us how to NOT ascribe intent or make assumptions that divide... She encourages us to not just let our thoughts or the stories we make up in our heads go unchecked, but to find out people and stick it out. To be real, to love, and to know and be known!
In case you didn't know, Jennie Allen is the founder of IF, and the IF:Gathering is happening next weekend worldwide. (March 3rd and 4th).
It's always great to participate with friends or other women, but you are welcome to live stream it wherever you are on your own as well. I highly encourage you to watch it! Gather some friends, or brave an IF:Local.
Avoid making assumptions - but show up expecting God... you won't be disappointed!
Friends, until next time, let's remember to:
* - This marks my Five Minutes. Grace, please, as I finished my thought!
* - This marks my Five Minutes. Grace, please, as I finished my thought!
We judge books by their covers
ReplyDeleteas we'd judge potential dates;
might we one day become lovers,
or even better, mates?
Does her smile show what's inside,
the qualities I long to see,
and does her gentle touch betide
a life of endless joy for me?
Yes, you say looks can deceive,
yes, of course, I know that's real,
but I don't want to believe
that what I so deeply feel
is an attempt to attribute
unlikely virtues to the cute.