Assumptions can be dangerous.
For example, there is a story about a photographer for a magazine who was assigned to take photos of an ongoing forest fire. The smoke from the fire was so bad he asked his home office to hire a pilot and a plane so that he could get some aerial shots. They made the necessary arrangements and told him to go at once to a nearby airport where the plane was waiting.
When he arrived at the airport, a plane was warming up near the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” The pilot swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air. “Fly over the north side of the fire,” yelled the photographer, “and make three or four low level passes.” “Why?” asked the pilot. “Because I’m going to take pictures,” cried the photographer. “I’m a photographer and photographers take pictures!” After a pause the pilot said, “You mean you’re not the instructor?”
Assuming we know the will of God.
Like I said, assumptions can be dangerous – especially when we assume we know the will of God and don’t take time to study God’s word to make sure we are right. Take, for example, what happened when Israel and Judah were deciding whether to fight against Aram in 1 Kings 22. The king inquired of “his” 400 prophets whether they should go to war. The prophets did not want to inquire of God, because they were afraid of what He might say. In fact, one of the prophets, Zedekiah, stated emphatically that God wanted them to go to war. But they all were wrong! In fact, only one man, Micaiah, knew the real word of God. As you might have guessed, things did not go the way Israel and Judah wanted them to go. In fact, the King of Israel died.
We need to make sure we are not making assumptions and that we take the time to seek out the Word of God first.
Youth and Family Minister