{"id":3249,"date":"2023-12-14T09:37:32","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T14:37:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3249"},"modified":"2023-12-14T09:38:23","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T14:38:23","slug":"assumptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/14\/assumptions\/","title":{"rendered":"Assumptions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 To listen to this reflection as a podcast,<\/em> click here<\/a>
 
A few years ago, an author recounted her experience waiting for a flight in an airport lounge.
 
She got out her newspaper and opened up a small package of cookies she had purchased to fend off hunger.
 
After a few minutes, she heard a rustling sound beside her.  She looked from behind her newspaper and was astonished to see a neatly dressed businessman helping himself to her cookies.
 
She couldn\u2019t believe it. 
 
Deciding it would be foolish to make a scene over a couple of chocolate chips, she reached down and took a cookie for herself.  Incredibly, so did the man. This went on a few more minutes, tit for tat, until all the cookies were gone except for one.
 
By this time she was so angry she didn\u2019t trust herself to say anything. 
 
As if to add insult to injury, the man reached over with a smile and took the last cookie, broke it in two, pushed half of it in her direction, then gathered up his things and left without so much as an apology.
 
A few moments later, still fuming, she heard her flight announced over the public address system.  When she reached into her purse to retrieve her boarding pass, imagine her surprise when she discovered her own unopened <\/em>bag of cookies. 
 
We need to rethink the way we think. 
 
Specifically, we need to consider the very real possibility that we don\u2019t always know exactly what\u2019s happening right in front of us.  As Mark Twain put it, it\u2019s not what we don\u2019t know that gets us into trouble.  It\u2019s what we think we know for sure that \u201cjust ain\u2019t so.\u201d<\/em>
 
Bad assumptions can lead to big problems.
 
That\u2019s certainly true when it comes to relating to the people we think we know the best.  Are you gritting your teeth as you head into the holidays, certain that someone in your family has disrespected or out-and-out rejected you?  Are you willing to consider the possibility that you\u2019ve allowed yourself to misinterpret what\u2019s really happening? 

Faulty assumptions can also derail our relationship with God. 
 
If you\u2019re going through hard times right now, you might assume that God is angry.  Perhaps you offended him somehow.  Or if you\u2019re pursuing a relationship or pattern of behavior that you know is flat wrong, and there haven\u2019t been any negative consequences, you might assume that God doesn\u2019t care about integrity or holiness after all.
 
Those are major mistakes. 
 
Spiritual assumptions must be tested against Scriptural truths.  What we think and feel on our own simply isn\u2019t going to cut it. 
 
The accounts of Jesus\u2019 birth, likewise, are famously illustrative of how assumptions can take us down the wrong path.  Many of those awaiting the Messiah\u2019s arrival assumed that a fully-grown champion would descend from heaven in spectacular fashion, armed to the teeth, ready to elevate Israel and kick the Roman Empire to the curb.  Herod, for his part, assumed that he could thwart God\u2019s plan with a show of force. 
 
Who knew that when the Messiah actually arrived, he would weigh in at about, oh, seven pounds and three ounces?
 
No one saw that one coming.   

Assumptions can cause us to miss the ways that God is shaping history.  Including our own histories. 

So give a gift to yourself and to others this Christmas.  Be gentle.  Be humble.  Keep your mind open. 
 
Especially if you discover that your own bag of cookies, against all expectations, still happens to be closed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here A few years ago, an author recounted her experience waiting for a flight in an airport lounge. She got out her newspaper and opened up a small package of cookies she had purchased to fend off hunger. After a few minutes, she heard a rustling sound beside her.  She looked from behind her newspaper… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[665,119,391],"class_list":["post-3249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-assumptions","tag-christmas","tag-expectations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3249"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3252,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3249\/revisions\/3252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}