Demise: Speculation

John was driving home late one night when he picked up a hitchhiker. As they rode along, he began to be suspicious of his passenger. John checked to see if his wallet was safe in the pocket of his coat that was on the seat between them, but it wasn’t there! So he slammed on the brakes, ordered the hitchhiker out, and said, "Hand over the wallet immediately!"
The frightened hitchhiker handed over a billfold, and John drove off. When he arrived home, he started to tell his wife about the experience, but she interrupted him, saying, "Before I forget, John, do you know that you left your wallet at home this morning?"
One of Satan’s strategies for our demise is Speculation. We begin to second-guess our friend/co-workers’ motives, what they must have been thinking, or why they said what they said (rather than simply ask). In the above story, John speculated that the hitchhiker stole his wallet. He then forced the shocked hitchhiker out of the car. Imagine his shock when he got home to find that he left the wallet at home. Do you think he looked for the hitchhiker to apologize?
What is speculation? Speculation is when we presume something will happen, has been said, or understood that is not based on fact but on opinions or falsehoods. Most speculation derives from not knowing the full facts of a situation. It also tends to come from fear of the unknown, what may or may not happen in the future.
There are ways that we speculate without realizing that is what we are doing. We use words like, concern, worry, doubt, conjecture, and theorize. We end up falling right into Satan’s hands. What does the bible say about worry. "Therefore I tell you, do no worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" (Matt 6:25 NIV) And. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matt 6:34 NIV) (For the full context read Matt 6:25-34)
What are most of our speculations built on? Most are built on our own abilities to succeed or fail. We base it on past experiences, pessimism, or ignorance. When we speculate on our past experiences, most of the time, we narrow it down to a minor incident. For example, I had a phone call from a member of the church. I wasn’t home to receive the call, so I got a message that he called, but not why he called. In the past he when he would call, it was just to chat and see how my day went. One time out of 100 he called and had some complaints. When he called this time, what did I speculate he wanted to discuss? Did I speculate that he was wanting to talk about our week, and how well everything has gone? Or, did I speculate that he wanted to complain about something? I speculated he had a complaint. He called me 1 time out of 100 to complain, yet that is what I thought he wanted to talk about. So did I call him back right away? No, I didn’t want to hear him complain. So I called the next day (How very rude of me) and what he wanted was NOT to complain, but ask what time we were going to be moving things at the pastors’ new house. (We did that the night before and it took us about an hour and half to do what needed done), but since I didn’t call right away, he didn’t come to help and it left Pastor David and myself to do all the work. I learned quickly not to speculate about him.
We tend to base our speculations on pessimism and ignorance. When we tend to speculate about the future (worry) we tend to do it in a negative manner. We don’t know what the future holds for us, yet we know it’s a bad thing. At least that’s how we tend to act. I’ve seen relationships end because of the lack of faith in God, and the wholehearted faith in our selves to mess things up. We speculate sickness that may not come, we speculate lack of income that may not come, we speculate the struggles, but fail to lean on God to help. I know some people reading this are thinking, "But Daniel, you need to get off your lazy butt and do it, God is not going to hand you the money to survive on. He is not going to pay your bills. You need money to survive, to pay bills, to buy food, clothing, and provide the shelter." Evidently noone pays attention to scripture, but I’ve been called an arrogant person (among the gentle versions) who belittles everyone else’s faith, because they don’t think like I do. If you think I’m belittling your faith, then I am. OPEN UP YOUR BIBLE AND STUDY IT! When God calls you to do something, then do it, don’t speculate about how it’s going to get done, just, as the commercial says, "Do It". God will provide the means for your success if YOU have faith in him. And yes, I am talking about blind faith at the same time. God calls you to do it, then DO IT.
That’s how Satan uses speculation to further our demise. He doesn’t want us to lean on God, he wants us to lean on our own understanding and our own power. Put your faith in God and let Him lead you. Read the whole context of the previous verses in Matthew. Jesus mentions our needs. He points out the love God has for His children and how important we are to Him. He knows our needs and when we put our faith in Him, God will provide the means to help us. We have to accept those means. Sometimes, we have to struggle to know humility, and to learn grace. When you accept God’s call for whatever He has planned for you, don’t speculate about how you will accomplish it, or if you will fail. Know that you will succeed, it will be a struggle, but God will reward your faithfulness.
Don’t let Satan tear you down through speculation.

Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg