"So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel blessed God; they spoke no more of going against them in battle, to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt."
Sometimes believers assume the worst, where no harm was ever intended. The context of the verse (above) is this: the two and a half tribes of Israel that stayed on the east side of the Jordan had built an altar. It was immediately inferred (by the other tribes on the west side of the river), that idolatry and wickedness was intended (through the building of such an object).
But this was not the case at all. Once the parties all got together and talked it out--it was discovered that everything was fine, and that no evil was in the offing. Let us seek to possess such a spirit, especially as we deal with one another (in the church).
[Puritan quote of the day: "When God denies one mercy, He gives another." --William Bridge, in "A Lifting Up for the Downcast"]
