ASSUMPTION CAN DESTROY GREAT THINGS

Olive ran in to pick new briefs for herself. As I walked out of the library, she said, “Daddy is this how to wear it?” I did not get her at first and she then said, “Is this the front?” I checked it out and saw the ‘label’ part was placed in front. I told her, ‘The label goes to the back’. She turned it round and wore it herself.

It was a brief moment but it was a life lesson- great men and enterprises fail when they fall into the trap of assumption. There is a childish quality that greatness must never lose- “Humility to admit and ask for help when we do not know”.

King Saul’s decline began with an assumption:

I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
1 Samuel 13:12 NIV

One of the first words that come out after failure is “I thought…”

I thought that was the way.
I thought it would be easy.
I thought I could handle the situation.
I thought he was a Christian.

Do you know the first statement of Prophet Samuel based on the actions King Saul took in assumption? “You have done a foolish thing”.

It is better to look like a fool asking questions about what we do not know than to be called a fool after making the wrong regrettable moves.

Assumptions can lead you head straight into avoidable disasters:

When a light wind began blowing from the south, the sailors thought they could make it. So they pulled up the anchor and sailed close to the shore of Crete. But the weather changed abruptly, and a wind of typhoon strength (called a “northeaster”) burst across the island and blew us out to sea.
Acts of the Apostles 27:13‭-‬14 NLT

They totally ignored the counsel of Apostle Paul because he was not an expert. It was a terrible trip.

Never ignore the instructions and nudgings of the Spirit of the Lord. It is a life preserver.

Never be too smart to ask for counsel from those who have gone ahead. That is one of the keys that leads a man out of smallness and keeps a man on the track to greatness.

Businesses that thought they would be on the scene forever are now in the dustbin of history. They were stuck because they grew too big to ask questions.

Great things can start as a movement and end up as a monument stuck to a spot in the museum of history because they stopped asking questions.

Assumption kills greatness!