If you’re old enough, you might remember back in elementary school when it was standard practice for students to be required to participate in “P.E.” (Physical Education). It was nothing too strenuous but it helped everyone get the blood flowing and limbered up.
One of the exercises I remember were jumping jacks. It really wasn’t too hard to do but, for some reason, there were some students who just couldn’t get the hang of it. As you jump in the air, you spread your legs apart and bring your arms over your head and put your hands together. Then, while in that position, jump again, only this time pull your legs together and bring your hands to your sides…and repeat over and over until you had completed the number your teacher required. It was a great exercise, if you could get the hang of it!
Exercise is good. Jumping is good. But, “jumping to conclusions” is not. We’ve all done that at one time or another. Based on little to no information, we are quick to bring judgement down on someone or a situation, usually based solely on our own preconceived sense of justice and prejudices. With the current news headlines (pick a day, any day will do) jumping to conclusions has become a national pastime! Without waiting for investigations to begin or more information to come out, John and Joan Q. Public are swift to air their diagnosis and verdict.
This is not a new phenomena. In fact, jumping to conclusions has been around since Adam and Eve. One instance plays out in the book of 1 Samuel, “Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman.” (1 Samuel 1:13, ESV). Eli was a priest serving at the tabernacle set up in Shiloh and was sitting next to the opening of the tabernacle. He had a nice, comfy view of the goings-on in the tabernacle and could observe people coming in to pray. One such person was Hannah, who had gone in to seek God concerning her ability to bear children.
Eli made an entirely incorrect judgment based on a faulty assumption. He didn’t bother to ask Hannah any questions but rushed to an erroneous conclusion and spoke hastily to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” Hannah quickly corrected him as to the truth of the matter in that she was “pouring out” her soul to God. She wasn’t drunk. She was crying out to God within her anxiety-ridden spirit.
We, too, tend to make faulty assumptions based on incomplete observations and facts. We must fight the urge to assume we know what is happening in another person’s life based on outward appearances. God knows what is occurring in their life and we need to encourage people to seek Him!
