God's Timing and Sense of Humor

God is hilarious. No, seriously. I’m not being disrespectful in the least. Let me explain.

Yesterday, as I was skulking about like a petulant child, I decided to do my Bible study, thinking maybe that would clear my head a bit. Never realized I’d be getting my butt handed to me on a platter!

Joanna and I are doing the study “Me, Myself, and Lies” by Jennifer Rothschild. Let me tell you about this woman. She’s spunky. She’s itty-bitty. She’s beautiful. Never a hair out of place, just plain polished. She’s also been blind since the age of 15. But let me tell you, this woman can throw down with the best of them. She has given me the “what for” in this study on numerous occasions, and today was no exception.

As I was pouting about my life and frustrations, and feeling a wee bit sorry for myself, I stopped acting like a 2 year old long enough to pull out the Book. Today’s lesson was on faulty assumptions. Let me first define the word “assume” (not the way you may have seen it before) and the word “presume.”

Assume: 1. To take upon oneself. 2. To pretend to have 3. To take as granted though not yet proved.

Presume: 1. To take upon oneself. 2. To take for granted. 3. To act or behave with undue boldness.

In Latin, the root of each word is the same, -sume, meaning “to take.” The Hebrew word for our word “presumptuous” means arrogant, proud, or insolent. This is an “aside” here, but I am a “word nerd.” I love the word insolent. I also love my Synonym Finder (my favorite book next to the Bible. If I could rescue two books from a fire, it would be my Bible and my Synonym Finder!)

Insolent: impertinent, audacious, presumptuous, sass, out-of-line, brazen, shameless, impolite, ill-mannered, uncivil, mouthy, rude, disrespectful, arrogant, crude. {sound like a 2-year old or what?}

Now THAT’S a jam-packed word!

Okay, so where I am I going with all this? According to the author, faulty assumptions lead to wrong thinking and emotions, which lead to presumptuous behavior, which usually leads to sin. For example, if you feel that you will never measure up (faulty assumption) you may feel or think you are just not good enough (wrong thinking). That feeling may lead to making poor decisions that try to make you feel better about yourself (presumptuousness) and you may engage in behavior unbecoming of a Christian woman (sin).

Check this out: Jennifer says, “The Greek word for “presumptuous” [in 2 Peter 2:10] is tolmetes, meaning “a daring man.” My friend, to engage in assumption is to be presumptuous. It is to be a daring woman in the worst possible way! It is to take for granted that your way, your view, and your opinion are worthy of forming the foundation of your thoughts. Only GOD’s way, view and opinion are worthy of becoming the foundation of our thought closets!…Presumption shows itself in me when I wrongly assume my perspective is complete but it is actually limited by my experiences and flawed by my sinful nature. The fact that I act on my presumptions implies in the depth of my heart I trust and prefer my view above God’s” {emphasis mine}.

IIIIIII know! OUCH! Talk about enough “food for thought” for like, a month! But this is only one day in this incredible study. Ponder that for a while though…When we base our thoughts, feelings and actions on what WE believe to be true rather than on God’s Word, which we KNOW to be true, we are basically thumbing our nose at God and telling Him we choose to believe our pathetic version of truth over His REAL one.

My dear friends, isn’t it time we let go of our faulty assumptions? Isn’t it time that we ALL bury ourselves in the Word of God to learn our real value and worth? I cannot recommend this study highly enough. It’s tough. It’s daily assignments and a lot of work. It takes effort to do it right and you’ll get out of it what you put in.

I have had so many “light bulb” moments my house is starting to look like a marquis! But that just goes to show you that when you let in the Truth, the Light will follow!