Duh
Duh!
I had something on my mind and I wanted to share it with others. I thought it was a good idea and that it would solve a number of issues but something kept telling me to keep it to myself. I could not figure out if this was the Spirit of God or if it was my unwillingness to go against the grain...again. I woke up pretty early this morning and my mind began to race with a number of different things. As I thought through this great idea that I had, I tweaked it a little bit more and it made even better sense. I figured this was why the Spirit of God wanted me to wait to share it with anyone. He wanted to make the idea even better!
Once I came into my office I decided to sit on the idea for another hour or so until I wrote this blog. I decided to turn to Proverbs to find a great nugget of truth to write about. As I read, I found that I was perplexed by one of the verses. I just didn’t know what it meant. After grabbing three sources and realizing it was one of those Proverbs that is difficult to translate, I struggled to get a clear enough picture of what the author meant to say. Here is the Proverb:
“The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult” Prov 12:16
It took me a while to figure it out but what this Proverb is teaching is that a fool spouts his mouth off anytime he feels as if he has been wronged. If anything bothers him, he does not hesitate to share his feelings with everyone. A prudent, or wise man, ignores being insulted. He does not demand that everyone know every way he thinks he has been wronged. He knows that we are imperfect human beings who step on each others toes...ALL THE TIME! In order to get along with others, wisdom encourages us to keep our mouths shut and ignore the slights and insults we receive every day. No one likes the one who is constantly making life about themselves and their imaginary slights.
I sat down to write all of this wisdom down and it finally hit me that God was speaking to me through his Word. He has a grand way of doing that. My vexation, my little annoyance, that led me to think of a “better” way was not something I had to share. I did not have to make right whatever little insult I had perceived or invented. I could also choose to ignore it and everyone would continue to be blissfully ignorant of how I felt slighted. And that would be ok. It would be better than ok. It would be wise. So my toes were a little sore from being stepped on. Whose aren’t? Like my dad used to say, “Rub it up and move on”.
Ignoring is different than suppressing it. Ignoring it involves forgetting. Ignoring involves not holding it against people. Ignoring involves it not bothering you. You simply choose to refuse to acknowledge that anything was said. If you try to suppress something that you cannot ignore, you will one day blow. But ignoring allows you to immediately move on and not allow it to effect your life. If you find that you cannot do that, then you must speak to those who have insulted you and find a way to peace.
Maybe you needed to hear this kind of wisdom today. I am moved by the fact that God chose to speak to me through his word this morning. He led me to Proverbs. He stopped my mind at this particular verse. He patiently continued to speak to me when I was distracted with how to share this truth rather than listening to what God was saying to me. What a privilege and gift it is to be a child of God who has the Holy Spirit living inside of me to illuminate his wisdom from his word. I did not follow my own wisdom today. I did not unduly burden others with my vexation. I was blessed to walk in the supernatural wisdom of almighty God. What a joyful way to live.
I had something on my mind and I wanted to share it with others. I thought it was a good idea and that it would solve a number of issues but something kept telling me to keep it to myself. I could not figure out if this was the Spirit of God or if it was my unwillingness to go against the grain...again. I woke up pretty early this morning and my mind began to race with a number of different things. As I thought through this great idea that I had, I tweaked it a little bit more and it made even better sense. I figured this was why the Spirit of God wanted me to wait to share it with anyone. He wanted to make the idea even better!
Once I came into my office I decided to sit on the idea for another hour or so until I wrote this blog. I decided to turn to Proverbs to find a great nugget of truth to write about. As I read, I found that I was perplexed by one of the verses. I just didn’t know what it meant. After grabbing three sources and realizing it was one of those Proverbs that is difficult to translate, I struggled to get a clear enough picture of what the author meant to say. Here is the Proverb:
“The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult” Prov 12:16
It took me a while to figure it out but what this Proverb is teaching is that a fool spouts his mouth off anytime he feels as if he has been wronged. If anything bothers him, he does not hesitate to share his feelings with everyone. A prudent, or wise man, ignores being insulted. He does not demand that everyone know every way he thinks he has been wronged. He knows that we are imperfect human beings who step on each others toes...ALL THE TIME! In order to get along with others, wisdom encourages us to keep our mouths shut and ignore the slights and insults we receive every day. No one likes the one who is constantly making life about themselves and their imaginary slights.
I sat down to write all of this wisdom down and it finally hit me that God was speaking to me through his Word. He has a grand way of doing that. My vexation, my little annoyance, that led me to think of a “better” way was not something I had to share. I did not have to make right whatever little insult I had perceived or invented. I could also choose to ignore it and everyone would continue to be blissfully ignorant of how I felt slighted. And that would be ok. It would be better than ok. It would be wise. So my toes were a little sore from being stepped on. Whose aren’t? Like my dad used to say, “Rub it up and move on”.
Ignoring is different than suppressing it. Ignoring it involves forgetting. Ignoring involves not holding it against people. Ignoring involves it not bothering you. You simply choose to refuse to acknowledge that anything was said. If you try to suppress something that you cannot ignore, you will one day blow. But ignoring allows you to immediately move on and not allow it to effect your life. If you find that you cannot do that, then you must speak to those who have insulted you and find a way to peace.
Maybe you needed to hear this kind of wisdom today. I am moved by the fact that God chose to speak to me through his word this morning. He led me to Proverbs. He stopped my mind at this particular verse. He patiently continued to speak to me when I was distracted with how to share this truth rather than listening to what God was saying to me. What a privilege and gift it is to be a child of God who has the Holy Spirit living inside of me to illuminate his wisdom from his word. I did not follow my own wisdom today. I did not unduly burden others with my vexation. I was blessed to walk in the supernatural wisdom of almighty God. What a joyful way to live.
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