May 12

May 12 - Today from Proverbs 12 we look at verse 16
"A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult."

By definition an insult is an offensive or disrespectful action or remark. Who isn't annoyed by an insult? But this proverb is dealing with the reaction, not the emotion.
I begin by thinking of all the possible reasons one person might insult another. There really are no good reasons. Most reasons I can think of are mean and/or selfish. At best, one might insult another as retaliation - to 'get even' - speaking out of woundedness. Even then, one has no sound principle to stand on. We are instructed to forgive, just as our heavenly Father forgave us in Christ Jesus. What did it cost God to overlook the insults we heaped upon Him every time we violated a moral code (our catalogue of disrespectful actions and remarks against a holy God)? All we need to do is look at the cross. No greater price was ever paid.
God equipped us with emotions. We are not commanded 'not to feel annoyed'. I imagine God gets annoyed with me now and again. I get annoyed with people I love, and probably would even be willing to die for. But annoyance should never overshadow love. We are admonished to 'overlook an insult'. We can only do that by grace. Retaliation is placing self first. It is an act of pride. It is intended to hurt and to 'put the offender in their place' - which hopefully is somewhere below the place they tried to put us. Love doesn't do that. Love lifts up. Love stops destructive conflict and aims at peace. In the strange paradox of the spiritual realm, love controls the situation. When a person slaps you on the cheek, it would seem that you gain control by slapping them even harder. But that's not true. The situation actually gets even more out of control. But, when you turn the other cheek, suddenly you are in control - you have brought the situation under control. At the expense of your pride? Once again, look to the cross. Pride could have called a legion of angels to take our Lord off the cross, and to exercise revenge against those who unjustly placed Him there. But love held Him to the cross, and the conflict between God and man was finally brought under control - for any who will accept His gift. When Jesus hung there on the cross, Satan thought he was in control. He slapped and this 'weakling' actually turned His cheek. But the truth is, Jesus was in control the entire time. An extreme example? Yes. But we need an extreme example. We need to see something so extreme that even in our greatest hour of temptation we can look to it and say, "My situation is nothing compared to what the Holy Son of God dealt with at Calvary." We can draw incredible strength from the knowledge of the extremes He was willing to go through - for 'ME'!
How incredibly small-minded of me to think I increase my stature when I can 'one-up' some antagonist who spiritually ‘slapped my cheek’. That's not life the way God meant it to be. We are called to be a peacemakers. In God's kingdom that is not done through brute power and intimidation. It is done by stopping destructive conflict through introducing an act of love. The prudent man overlooks an insult not out of weakness, but out of strength. The fool retaliates and the conflict rages on. The prudent man overlooks and there is no more fuel for the enemy to throw on the fire.
Satan cannot defend against love because he does not understand it. He fully expects man to act from the vantage of pride. When man acts from the vantage of love, it breaks the chain of events that the devils are counting on. Talk about getting annoyed! Can you imagine a devil setting up a devious plan to bring retaliation, chaos and extreme hurt to mankind only to have his plan thwarted by someone who acted in love instead of pride?
The next time you are 'slapped' with an insult and the pride quickly rises to retaliate - stop! Look to Calvary. "Pray in the time of temptation, for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." (Matt. 26:41) God gives grace to the humble, and His grace is sufficient.