“Submit to God and be at peace with him;
    in this way prosperity will come to you.”
Job 22:21 (NIV)

You know the old saying about when we assume: “It makes an ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me.’“

With the proliferation of the polarization of political extremes in our culture, I’ve observed that assumptions are rampant across the human spectrum. We assume good things in those we agree with and bad things in those we don’t. We assume those who feed us information don’t have their own agenda. We assume that those in leadership care more about the lives of the people their policies affect than they do their own consolidation of power, wealth, and influence. We assume what others think and believe, and it changes the way we relate with them.

One of the themes that has come into focus for me in this current chapter-a-day trek through the story of Job is the perpetual assumptions being made by both Job and his friends. Job assumes that God is the perpetrator of his suffering. His friends assume that Job has done something to deserve his tragic circumstances and suffering.

In today’s chapter, Job’s friend Eli kicks off the third set of back-and-forth discourses. Eli makes an assumption that those who submit and follow God will prosper. The Hebrew word translated as “prosperity” (tôbâ) indicates a general goodness, well-being, safety, enjoyment, and prosperity. Job’s three amigos hold to this simple assumption.

As the sage of Ecclesiastes observed, “There is nothing new under the sun.”

You will find people around the world today, televangelists in particular, who continue to share these simplistic assumptions. Submit to God (and give a nice donation to their ministry) and you will prosper.

I know many people who have chosen not to believe because of what they assume about God. Like Job, I know those who assume that God has been the perpetrator of their suffering or tragic life circumstances. Likewise, it’s easy to assume things about Jesus because of what others have said or written.

On this chapter-a-day journey, I’ve come to recognize that the assumptions I hear many people make about God aren’t congruent with the God revealed to me across the entire Great Story. Reading their words in context of the whole Great Story, Job and his comrades are all making incorrect assumptions about God, suffering, and prosperity.

In the quiet this morning, I’m compelled to do a little soul-searching about my own assumptions about life, culture, politics, news, others, and God. One of the things that I have always loved in Jesus’ example is the way He didn’t assume things of others as everyone around Him did. His people, even His own disciples, made widely held assumptions about others that allowed them to justify socially dismissing the outcast, the marginalized, the sinful, the suffering, and those who were different. Jesus always saw the individuals in every one of those human categories as lovable, valuable, and capable. If I am truly a disciple of Jesus, I am called to follow that very example.

If I, as a disciple of Jesus, assume that I am justified in doing any different than Jesus did, well, then… you know they say about when we assume.

Note: I’m taking a long Labor Day weekend starting tomorrow. See you back here on Tuesday, September 5. Have a great holiday weekend, my friend!

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.