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Misunderstood

  • December 14, 2015
  • Posted by: LSEM
  • Category: Devotions
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Lord, you have examined me and know all about me.  You know when I sit down and when I get up.  You know my thoughts before I think them.  You know where I go and where I lie down.  You know everything I do.  Lord, even before I say a word, you already know it. – Psalm 139:1-4

One of the most interesting stories in the Old Testament is also one of the shortest – the story of the Tower of Babel.  The account of the tower can be found in Genesis 11 but it only lasts for nine verses.  As Christians we readily recognize the story of the tower; how the people came together to build this massive structure reaching to the heavens to celebrate their own greatness.  We also know how God responded, confusing the languages of the people to cause confusion and to bring the construction project to an immediate halt.

What the story doesn’t describe is the immediate aftermath of the changing of the languages.  If you’ve ever been in a foreign country and couldn’t speak the language, you can probably begin to appreciate the frustration that must have fallen on the people.  I imagine there was an initial feeling of confusion, followed closely by fear.  After all, the very people you had been working with to build this tower are now speaking what sounds like gibberish.  It stands to reason that as the people frantically scrambled to find anyone with whom they could speak, there had to be an incredible amount of non-verbal communication taking place.  Hand gestures, flailing arms, facial expressions, absolutely anything they could do to try to let somebody know what they were trying to say.

Non-verbal communication is something that we still find important today.  Many of us learned about it in a communication class back in college while others learned it simply by paying attention to the actions and reactions of those around us.  The benefit of this is to know what someone is thinking or feeling even if it doesn’t match up with the words coming out of our mouth.  It is as close as any of us can come to knowing the heart of somebody else.  For some people who struggle with understanding non-verbal communication, their lives can be almost as confusing as the people building the Tower of Babel.  But also like them, they do have a source to which they can turn who will understand them and always speak to them clearly.

How interesting it is when we realize that it is our God who actually does know us so intimately.  As our Creator, He knows our thoughts, our hurts, our joys and our needs.  We know that we can rely on Him in every situation because of His great love for us.  Because He knows us so well and He loves us so much, God sacrificed His Son to give us freedom from the confusion of sin.  We don’t need a tower to reach to heaven.  Christ has opened the doors of Heaven for us – welcoming us in for eternity.

That’s news we all should shout – no matter what language we use!