This morning as I was taking a shower, when I realized I had allowed my preconceived notions about an idea cause me to be blinded to a truth a friend had been sharing with me for several years.
Have you ever had a moment like that?
You know an “ah ha” moment.
I am so grateful that Yehovah God doesn’t give up on me. He is always patiently teaching and guiding me. Even though I am not always hearing and understanding, because I think, in my limited mind, that I already know something.
I have been in love with Yehovah ever since I was a little girl. My parents came to know Yeshua, as their Savior when I was a very young girl. They called him Jesus, and knew Him as their Lord and Savior. They worshipped and served Him, wholeheartedly. Their lives then and now, have been an example of a loving relationship based in Scripture and prayer. I honestly, can not remember a time that I did not know of God as the Creator and Redeemer. Yes, I am very blessed. My parents encouraged me to read the Bible to know God, and to pray and to listen for Him to answer.
This has been the desire of my heart since I was small to live whole heartedly for God.
I love the Bible, I love Hebrew, I love the people of God, Israel. I love learning more and more about God and His people.
This passion lead me to a relationship with a woman named Anne Elliott. Over ten years ago, I bought a book from foundations press. The author of that book is Anne Elliott. After I began using the book as the core foundational lessons of my kid’s curriculum for that school year, I sent Anne an email to express how much I loved the book, and what I was doing with it. This email changed her and my life, and maybe yours too. Anne and I continued to email each other for a few years. We began to discuss the Bible, and we began a relationship of iron sharpening iron. I have grown to know Anne, and after a few years, she and her husband moved to Michigan to begin a Sabbath keeping fellowship with us and some other families. That was six years ago. Anne and I have continued to encourage, motivate, and challenge each other in our relationship with Yehovah and his people.
Many people know Anne, because of her companies, Homeschoolingtorah.com and Foundations Press. She is a gifted teacher and author, and God has used her to impact His Kingdom in mighty ways. Anne has written several books and has many many amazing and encouraging blog posts at AnneElliott.com
I have learned from her writings, and I have been blessed to know her in her daily life to be a true example of Godly character. So, there have been a few times I have really wondered at some of her blog posts. I have questioned what she was trying to say, or what the point was. Yesterday, I mentioned one of those posts that still make me a bit confused.
As I listened to Anne explain herself in regards to the specific post, a realization hit me. When I read the post, I was reading it from a judgmental point of view. Which was clearly not the perspective Anne had written the post. As soon as, I heard the words spoken from her, I understood completely what she was saying. But, what bothered me was that I had read the post wrong to begin with.
Why did I have a preconceived notion that skewed my understanding of this article to begin with?
This morning I found the answer. I want to share my moment with you, my readers, because maybe you have had a misunderstanding with a teacher, friend, spouse, or child that was based in deep rooted notions that you need to consider.
The article that my friend, Anne had wrote is
In this very long article my friend Anne explains who God’s people are and how God calls His people to live. The last section of the article is about “cut off” offenses that are laid out in God’s Word. For some reason every time I read the last part of this article, I would become very upset, and even question if I really knew Anne as well as I thought I did. I would begin to think the article was very judgmental. Recently, I assigned my children this article to read and write and essay on for school. My adult children also, read it and my one daughter, shared how much she agreed with Anne’s conclusions and went on and on about it. Yet, I still felt really uneasy about the article and didn’t understand exactly what the point of the article was.
This morning as I was praying in the shower, I realized what my problem was, why I had not understood the point and heart of the article until yesterday. The reason was the words, “cut off.” The title of the article has the words, ‘cut off.” So, as soon as I read that title, I formed an idea of what I would then read. I didn’t realize I had done this, but I now realize I already had in my mind that “cut off” means to be put out of the church and condemned to hell. Maybe, you were raised with a similar view. Somewhere in my past, I had put together in my mind this idea that to be “cut off” from the church also means to be condemned to hell. Maybe I learned this in my childhood church experience, or maybe I learned it in my relationship with the Amish/Mennonite communities over the years. Maybe I learned it from various Bible studies or books I have read over the years. I actually am not sure where this idea came from in my mind, but this morning as I was pondering these things, I realized I had been reading my friends article with this concept in my mind, and it kept me from really understanding what the article was saying.
I have read and reread the article yesterday and today, and now with cleared vision, I can grasp the truth of what my friend was saying. She was saying what I always say, “God gave us the Torah to show us how to live a long blessed life here on earth. He doesn’t want us to die an early death, He doesn’t want to “cut” our life here on earth short. He has given us these rules and guidelines so that we can live the best, blessed life now.”
How did I not see this?
I didn’t see the message of love, because my mind was clouded by my preconceived ideas.
Often in our house we joke about, “trigger words.” These are words or phrases that can cause a reaction in our mind and actions. Sometimes they are programed into us, like a teaching method, and sometimes they come from our experiences, especially our negative experiences. But, trigger words can happen in our minds without us even realizing it. This is why we are called to guard our heart and mind. I had no idea that the reason I was misreading my friends article was because I started reading it with a preconceived idea based on the title. I had no idea that some where in my life I had programmed my own mind to read/hear the words “cut off” as put out of the church and destined for hell.
Maybe this isn’t that big a deal to you. But for me this was a huge deal. I realize to really have clarity I must be daily washing my mind in the Word of God, so as to not be deceived.
I hope this post encourages you to wash in His Word daily too.
Shalom
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