Assumptions, Conclusions & a View from a New Lens
A frame of reference for some context to this month’s Good eNews:
I received a personal insight a couple of weeks ago while I was lounging on my back patio, listening to the birds sing and sipping my morning coffee. With my prayer journal open and Bible turned to the first chapter of Ephesians, I paused to pray & ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom, revelation and understanding as I began to seek Him and listen to His voice thru the Word.
I’ve come to realize when my heart is tuned in, it never ceases to amaze me how God will often drop a thought in my spirit in answer to my prayers, or to remind me of a biblical truth I’ve known or just read. Sometimes, while I’m running errands, a stranger will speak something to me that directly applies to what the Lord had highlighted to me in the Word or I’ll experience an interruption that I know in my being is being used of the Lord to speak to me.
That particular day, as I drank my coffee, I was thinking of the lunch appointment I had scheduled with a lady I mentor. I try to always ask the Lord to prepare my heart ahead of time and then to speak life giving words through me as I let His Spirit lead and flow through me. Such was this day!
In my video clip, you’ll hear two stories of how God used two very random out of the box ways to answer my prayer for wisdom, revelation and understanding. One is a funny story from right there in my backyard that morning. I can confidently say God has a great sense of humor and it’s easier to tell the story than to type it, so take a listen. The other story is of an interruption at the grocery store like I’ve NEVER had before. As I drove home thinking about the odd words spoken to me, I knew the Lord was using the voice of another to confirm what He wanted me to remember and what would later flow from my mouth to my lunch buddy. And oddly, both of these stories spoke to my own heart, as well as to another’s and has continued to remain in my thoughts as the Lord keeps showing me through Ephesians that He hears our prayers, He responds and it delights Him to answer. And as He is a relational and personal God who knows His children well just as we know our own, He knows how to get our attention. He got mine! Listen to my stories.
Spoiler alert…. The takeaway messages these stories led to were these:
- The lens I look through determines my perspective or the “frame” in which I hold assumptions, values, viewpoints or filter facts through. Sometimes, a different lens is required to get a clearer understanding, for context, or to view from the outside of the border of my frame.
- We were not meant to carry some things because of their heavy weight, but Jesus wants to carry them for us. He can handle it.
- Don’t make assumptions or jump to conclusions! They’re often wrong! Remember, we gravitate towards what we contemplate, so choose to believe, see and speak the best about others and yourself. Then verify your assumptions before jumping to a false conclusion. This is a great relational practice that can save friendships, marriages and families.
The Good News for you my friend is that no matter what you face in your day, and regardless of the circumstances that surround your life, if you will frame your day by filtering through the lens of God’s Word, He will lead you through it. His Spirit will teach you as you seek and trust Him to give you wisdom, revelation and understanding, so you can know Him more.
Pay attention to the interruptions that come your way because you never know what interesting people you will meet or how creative the Lord has been to get your attention in a way you’ll never forget, because you asked for it.
Did you enjoy hearing my stories? Do you have a God story you’d like to share of how the Lord heard and answered your prayers? I’d love to hear it.
Listen! What do you hear God speaking to you?
GOOD NEWS from the Word of God:
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,
may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”
Suzanne: He Reveals to Heal!
Greg: Keep Faith’n it!
Greg & Suzanne Grimaud, Authors – Speakers – Coaches
We believe God, so we speak… LIFE!
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