QUICK STEPS预览

QUICK CONCLUSIONS

Another advantage of being quick-natured is to easily grasp new concepts and ideas. Again, in fast-paced jobs like nursing, it is a necessity to be quick to understand. When a patient's life depends on difficult decisions, you need to be able to think a few steps ahead. But when it comes to matters of the heart, our hasty conclusions are often not accurate.

When Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, Peter jumped ahead so quickly that he almost missed the true meaning of Jesus’ gesture (John 13). Peter went from not wanting his feet washed to almost jumping into the basin in a matter of seconds without understanding what it was about. But Jesus remained patient as always. “‘Jesus replied, ‘You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will’” (v. 7, NLT).

When we rely on our own interpretation of our surroundings, we risk missing out on the ways that God wants to bless us beyond our wildest dreams. Our frame of reference is so limited by previous disappointments and hard lessons that we struggle to take time to open our hearts.

In Peter’s case, he almost missed a fantastic miracle when the Lord rescued him from prison (Acts 12). The logical outcome of unbreakable chains, two guard posts, and an iron gate wasn’t walking out of prison in plain sight. So Peter decided that the angel who seemed to be rescuing him was a vision. It could simply not be real. He could only see beyond his own assumptions after the angel had left him. “Peter finally came to his senses. ‘It’s really true!’ he said. ‘The Lord has sent his angel and saved me…’” (v. 11, NLT).

How do you think you may have missed out on God’s blessings by assuming how a situation should play out? What can you do to avoid jumping ahead of God’s plans for you?

Let us take time to listen to God’s voice without relying on our own understanding. And let us evaluate our assumptions and conclusions about the world around us against God’s character. “The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?” (Proverbs 20:24, NLT).