MISUNDERSTANDING

Misunderstanding is defined as “failure to understand correctly” – dictionary.com

This is the most referred to of all the Mis-es.
Why this is so might not be very obvious, but what I can tell you is … all the Mis-es head in one direction…..the direction of confusion.
It doesn’t matter whether you misinterpret, misrepresent, misquote, misunderstand or misapply things….. After all is said and done, communication breakdown is the overall effect that the Mis-es want to achieve in our families.

FACTS ABOUT UNDERSTANDING

The pinnacle of human intelligence is “understanding”.

When you understand something, what you are saying is, I know the intricacies of this thing and I can reproduce it whenever I am required to.

Back in the days in high school, my teachers explain to me that…. The easiest way to be a genius is not just to learn or read whatever I’m being taught but to UNDERSTAND them.

When you understand things, they become engraved into your system… when you understand, you care less about unimportant things.

When you understand life… you know the things that make life tick…. When you understand your career… you become a force to reckon with… When you understand your family… everyday becomes a journey towards “betterment” and not “what ifs.”

I can go on and on about the usefulness of reaching that state of understanding because:

“Understanding is the state where the word “ease” finds fulfillment and becomes a lifestyle”

Proverbs 4 vs. 7

Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.

A few days ago, I was on the phone to a very good friend and after a while, the conversation turned bittersweet. With every passing second, it seems the only thing I was doing was causing her pain. For the first time in a while, I was disappointed at the way the conversations had turned out and I only have myself to blame.
With no clue on how to make things better, I decided going off the phone was my best option so as not to cause any more pain. After a few minutes of getting my senses together, my good friend text me saying:

“You make it sound like I don’t understand what you meant to say. I know you didn’t mean no harm……..I personally believe you wouldn’t……hurt me”.

In other words, my friend is saying the understanding she has of me is potent enough to wipe out my mistakes…

THE STRENGTH OF UNDERSTANDING

How strong can “understanding” be?
What potential is resident in us understanding each other?

A journey into time will I believe reveal the possible possibilities.

Genesis 11 vs. 1 – 9 (The Message)

"God Turned Their Language into 'Babble'"

At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down.
They said to one another, "Come, let's make bricks and fire them well." They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.
Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let's make ourselves famous so we won't be scattered here and there across the Earth."
God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.
God took one look and said, "One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they'll come up with next—they'll stop at nothing! Come, we'll go down and garble their speech so they won't understand each other." Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That's how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into "babble." From there God scattered them all over the world.

Understanding was so powerful that at that time even God was disturbed.

CALAMITIES OF MISUNDERSTANDING

For clarification purposes, I’ll like to point out that the opposite of understanding IS NOT misunderstanding.

As from the definition, Misunderstanding is simply “wrong understanding”.

The subtleness of Misunderstanding makes it one of the most dangerous of the Mis-es.

“You know that you know what you know…. What you don’t know is that what you know is not the right thing to know.”

Why did the builders stop building?....... It wouldn’t have been just because one was speaking English and the other Spanish….rather....
All of a sudden, the gesture that should generally mean “thumbs up” now turns out to be a “swear word” to another.
Misunderstanding brought confusion and in no time progress came to a halt.

The Mis-es are so powerful that God employed the services to destroy a family….. A national family.
The enemy will also not decline to use these things to destroy our God given families.
We will be an ignorant bunch of believers and individuals to think that these concepts are nothing but English terms.

Luke 11 vs. 17
Jesus said:
“Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.”

A WAY OUT

As found in former posts and running through the veins of this series, the following are the core lessons to be learnt and implemented in our daily existence.

v Awareness: Be aware that the Mis-es exist and are potent enough to destroy
v Be Open: Clarify your thoughts and actions to family members. Let people know who you are
v Harmony: Be an ambassador of harmony. Seek peace with all men.
v Tolerance: Give family members the benefit of doubt and learn to tolerate others

NEXT WEEK!!! - FINAL WORDS