Discernment

August 2

Presumption can lead to complications within our circumstances that cannot be easily resolved. To neglect to balance a checkbook, for example, may lead to writing a check without the funds required to cover the purchase. Penalties and/ or loss of good credit can result.

To place ones trust in an individual who proves unworthy can result in emotional trauma and abject disappointment. Long range implications of relying on the wrong person can be staggering. The Bible gives an example of the ancient Israelites falling for a bill of goods and the high price they paid for their naïveté.

In Joshua, Chapter 9, the people of God encountered what appeared to be a wandering band of itinerants. The Israelites promised to allow them passage to their destination without imposing their military might upon them. When it turned out that the wanderers were really an enemy, they were bound by their oath to allow them to go unhindered—to their own detriment.

In Joshua 9:19 their lament states, “We have sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.” They knew God would be more displeased by their failure to keep their oath than He was by their neglect to assess their intentions carefully at the onset. We, too, must place all our endeavors before the Lord so He may enable us to discern them rightly.