January 19

Jan 19 - Today from Proverbs 19 we look at verse 11

"A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense."

"A man's wisdom gives him patience." How does that work? Again, we have to understand just what wisdom is. It is more than correct knowledge, although one cannot have wisdom without correct knowledge. Wisdom is the ability to apply correct knowledge. In order to do that, one must know how it fits into the greater scheme. I guess we could use a jigsaw puzzle as a limited analogy. If the pieces of the puzzle were correct knowledge, and you possessed all of the pieces, it still wouldn't do you much good unless you knew how they all fit together. As we grow in wisdom, we not only accumulate the puzzle pieces (correct information), but we practice putting them together in proper order. A little simplistic, but at least it gives some understanding.
Now perhaps we can better see how wisdom can give patience. Wisdom looks at the 'big picture', understanding that the situation one is currently dealing with is only a small piece of it. This is the foundational thought of the proverb; the second is built upon it. Without the understanding of a bigger picture, we want to immediately react to a personal offense. We want to be sure that the offender 'pays', so we often take matters into our own hand and retaliate. When someone insults, we lash back. When someone takes unfair advantage, we bristle and look for a way to get even. When someone gossips about us, we do all we can to discredit their character. When we can only see the small piece of life we are dealing with, and have no thought of God's greater scheme of life, we react to insure that personal justice is served. This is, of course, all 'self-serving'. Retaliation is almost always a pride issue.
In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount He was teaching kingdom principles. He was pointing people to the big picture. He was moving people from the limitations of personal justice to the liberty of mercy and grace. In Matthew 5:38-42 He says, "You have heard that it was said 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth'." Here Jesus was speaking about the limits of personal justice. People are prone to want revenge instead of justice - they want at least two teeth for a tooth. God limited 'natural man' to just punishment. You didn't have to demand a tooth for a tooth; it's just that you couldn't go beyond a tooth for a tooth. Then Jesus goes on to the big picture. He says, "But I tell you, if someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." Jesus goes from limited personal justice to the power of mercy and grace. As a mature and wise believer, one has the knowledge and the capacity to forfeit their personal 'just rights' in order that it does not interfere with their witness. It is an 'ornament of splendor' (glory) to overlook an offense in order to promote peace and to give witness to God's mercy. The big picture also reveals that no offense goes unpunished. In the end, God will see that perfect justice is done. Either the offense will be paid through the shed blood of Jesus, in which case you have taken it upon yourself to 'punish' an innocent person, or, the offender will answer to God for the offense, in which case you will be vindicated.
It is to a man's glory to overlook an offense. Hopefully the offender will be influenced through such a witness as to draw near to God and find the same forgiveness as the offended did. If not, there is no ultimate loss - God will take up your case and in the end He will see that all wrongs are righted. Can't wait that long? You need to spend more time studying the big picture.