Wrong Assumptions

I wore many hats while our children attended Christian schools located on a college campus near our home. As their chauffeur, I dropped them off at the elementary school or academy, allowing myself a few moments to reach my office on campus.

Afternoons and evenings became more of a challenge.

Leaving my work, I picked up our children and then raced home to cook the evening meal while monitoring homework and music practice and doing laundry.

Many afternoons and evenings included the extra commute back to the campus with a wait for band, orchestra, and chorale practice, plus editorial work on the school paper. Somewhere in an already hectic schedule, I was also the bookkeeper for my husband’s business, a seamstress, and a homemaker. One evening our commute proved to be out of the ordinary. We stopped at the only gas station on campus to refill my car’s nearly empty tank, and I asked our oldest son to put gasoline in the tank for me. What a relief that he was old enough to help in this way. I could finally relax for a few moments! I saw our son go into the station to pay the attendant and then noticed in my rearview mirror that a car had driven up behind me.

Assuming we had finished filling our tank, I decided it would be thoughtful to allow the next vehicle to fill up as well. Quickly moving my car forward, I felt a hard jerk from the rear end of my vehicle. Looking into my rearview mirror again, I was shocked to see the gas hose flying into the air, spewing gasoline everywhere! The owner and several other men realized I had not completely pulled the hose from the gas pump, and they raced to hook up the hose and wipe up the gasoline. About twenty years later, I heard about a similar situation on the national news, but the results were much worse: the hose had broken from the gas pump, causing a serious fire. How could I have caused such a serious chain of events? Simple! I had assumed something without all the facts. Such assumptions can be dangerous. God has warned us, “Do not judge according to appearance” (John 7:24, NKJV). We cannot read the human heart, so how can we make assumptions about another’s life issues? Following God’s word of caution could save someone’s life and reputation.

Dottie Barnett