I was recently involved in a misunderstanding. A situation was misinterpreted and before the perceived issue was presented to me, conclusions had already been jumped to. I was met with something that felt closely related to an accusation and all of this happened within a matter of minutes. My mind was swimming. How did we get here? Every effort I made to clarify was met with more resistance and I felt obligated to explain myself in even greater detail. By the end of the interaction, I was not only frustrated, but heartbroken. Not only was the situation misunderstood, but as a person, I felt misunderstood too. 

The core of the issue was missing context, but the enemy took that and ran with it. As the author of confusion, he did just that; the enemy took what little information was available and spun it to fit a narrative that was untrue. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. John 10:10 tells us that the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. The enemy has a mission of division, and in this situation, I was supposed to feel isolated, b lo othered, and at fault.

I brought my thoughts to the Lord in prayer: “Did I not do everything I was supposed to do? I have nothing to hide. Why did this happen? What more could I have done?”  I was stirred in my spirit and the Lord reminded me that this was nothing new; this was a dynamic that was ages old. Who knew it better that God’s own son? It was not my responsibility to facilitate and force understanding upon people who had already made up their minds. Jesus did not spend hours trying to convince the crowd why He was justified as they screamed to crucify Him. He simply sought do the will of the Father. It is my responsibility to reflect the image of Christ – especially when the situation is unfair. 

The Lord is not blind to our struggles. His knowledge is complete and perfect. In Psalm 139 David expresses in detail how we are fully known, understood, and loved by God. We can rest assured that there are no misunderstandings in Heaven, but we must remember that we have a responsibility while we are still here on earth.