Good day beauts
I hope everyone is feeling refreshed, revived and refilled? I pray that you continually experience the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding, and know that the love which God has for you is unfailing and unending.
Conflict is something which EVERYONE will have to face in life, and one should not be afraid of dealing with disagreements. First and foremost I’d like to express that it is absolutely essential/necessary to deal with problems instead of turning a blind eye to them. This can help prevent negative emotions building up to the point that one explodes into rage. Dealing with problems early on can help prevent situations from going from bad to worse. Addressing situations immediately can also neutralise incorrect assumptions.
Upon reading my one year bible reading plan, it dawned on me the significance of…
1. Not making assumptions.
2. Effectively handling matters which cause you concern.
Getting to know the truth can alleviate feelings of frustration. Take for example you message an individual and get no response for weeks. You finally meet this human being in person and find out that their phone is/was broken, it becomes a relief to know that you weren’t being ignored, but rather your dear friend didn’t receive your message due to phone issues.
Handling potential problems as soon as you become aware of them, can help dissipate wrong assumptions and give one peace of mind. This is better than sweeping things under the carpet.
We have an example of this in the Bible in the book of Joshua. The tribes on the east side of the Jordan river (Rueben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh) built a large altar. When the rest of Israel heard about this they assumed the tribes on the east were sinning against the Lord by setting up an altar for idol worship. They saw it to be an act of betrayal and disobedience towards God. Below I will post the chapter and verses which describe this event. It is a long read but I’d encourage you to read all the verses in order to gain clearer understanding.
Joshua 22:10-34 ~ But while they were still in Canaan, and when they came to a place called Geliloth near the Jordan River, the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh stopped to build a large and imposing altar. The rest of Israel heard that the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar at Geliloth at the edge of the land of Canaan, on the west side of the Jordan River. So the whole community of Israel gathered at Shiloh and prepared to go to war against them. First, however, they sent a delegation led by Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to talk with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. In this delegation were ten leaders of Israel, one from each of the ten tribes, and each the head of his family within the clans of Israel. When they arrived in the land of Gilead, they said to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, “The whole community of the Lord demands to know why you are betraying the God of Israel. How could you turn away from the Lord and build an altar for yourselves in rebellion against him? Was our sin at Peor not enough? To this day we are not fully cleansed of it, even after the plague that struck the entire community of the Lord. And yet today you are turning away from following the Lord. If you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with all of us tomorrow. “If you need the altar because the land you possess is defiled, then join us in the Lord’s land, where the Tabernacle of the Lord is situated, and share our land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar other than the one true altar of the Lord our God. Didn’t divine anger fall on the entire community of Israel when Achan, a member of the clan of Zerah, sinned by stealing the things set apart for the Lord? He was not the only one who died because of his sin.” Then the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the heads of the clans of Israel “The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! He knows the truth, and may Israel know it, too! We have not built the altar in treacherous rebellion against the Lord. If we have done so, do not spare our lives this day. If we have built an altar for ourselves to turn away from the Lord or to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings, may the Lord himself punish us. “The truth is, we have built this altar because we fear that in the future your descendants will say to ours, ‘What right do you have to worship the Lord, the God of Israel? The Lord has placed the Jordan River as a barrier between our people and you people of Reuben and Gad. You have no claim to the Lord.’ So your descendants may prevent our descendants from worshiping the Lord. “So we decided to build the altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a memorial. It will remind our descendants and your descendants that we, too, have the right to worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings. Then your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no claim to the Lord.’ “If they say this, our descendants can reply, ‘Look at this copy of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors made. It is not for burnt offerings or sacrifices; it is a reminder of the relationship both of us have with the Lord.’ Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord or turn away from him by building our own altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices. Only the altar of the Lord our God that stands in front of the Tabernacle may be used for that purpose.”When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community the heads of the clans of Israel heard this from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, they were satisfied. Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, replied to them, “Today we know the Lord is among us because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord as we thought. Instead, you have rescued Israel from being destroyed by the hand of the Lord.” Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the other leaders left the tribes of Reuben and Gad in Gilead and returned to the land of Canaan to tell the Israelites what had happened. And all the Israelites were satisfied and praised God and spoke no more of war against Reuben and Gad. The people of Reuben and Gad named the altar “Witness,”for they said, “It is a witness between us and them that the Lord is our God, too.”
So you can see that the tribes on the west side immediately took action when they heard of a ‘potential problem’. They didn’t spend years in the dark wondering ‘what if’? It is crucial for all individuals to learn how to deal with conflict in a wise manner, instead of running away from dispute. It helps remove the ‘what if’ factor and exposes the truth/facts, and therefore can aid in resolving disagreements. The tribes on the west got it wrong, and sometimes we too can make incorrect assumptions, it’s what you call ‘BEING HUMAN’.
To sum things up we should avoid making assumptions about others at all costs. We should also strive to handle situations with wisdom so we can obtain clarity, instead of turning a blind eye to matters which concern us. This prevents us from living in the dark (believing incorrect information or false news). Trust me when I say that in this era it is very easy for one to be misinformed. When we do not voice out our concerns with the individual who has potentially offended us, there is a high tendency for feelings of bitterness and resentment to rise up within us. This is not how God wants us to live. He desires for us to live in peace and have a true and pure love for one another.
1 Peter 1:22 ~ “You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.”
Anyway God bless people & enjoy your week.
Love from
Christian Lady After God’s Own Heart