“When they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large altar in appearance. And the sons of Israel heard it said, ‘Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel.’ When the sons of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered themselves at Shiloh to go up against them in war” (Josh 22:10-12).
The nine and a half tribes of Israel nearly went to war against their brothers (i.e., sons of Rueben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh) because they had incorrectly judged their motives. What Israel had assumed to be an act of unfaithfulness on the part of the two and a half tribes (see Josh 22:16-20) turned out to be an expression of their love for God and his people (Josh 22:21-29).
How often we too presume we have the ability to get into someone else’s head. Someone looks at us the wrong way, fails to write or call, or incessantly honks at us from behind (and a million other similar situations) and we straight away condemn their “terrible” motives within the courtroom of our heads. But many a great relationship has been harmed or destroyed because of our folly in assuming we can see the motives buried deep inside another person’s heart. (The truth be told, we don’t always understand our own motives either.)
God alone has the ability to get into someone else’s head
But any one of the above situations can be explained without assuming the people involved were trying to hurt us or be rude. Take for example the person who keeps honking behind us. As it turns out, we just had a nuclear meltdown over a loving father trying desperately to bring his sick child to the hospital.
The only way to avoid a full-scale war with a family member, a fellow believer, or a colleague at work is by humbly admitting that God alone has the ability to get into someone else’s head (Jer 17:10; 1 Cor 2:11; Rev 2:23). We must resist the temptation of judging someone else’s motives until we sit down with them and get all the facts.
“So when Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation, even the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Manasseh, ‘Today we know that the LORD is in our midst, because you have not committed this unfaithful act against the LORD; now you have delivered the sons of Israel from the hand of the LORD'” (Josh 22:30-31).
“This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20).
