Proverbs 19:11
A man’s wisdom gives him patience;
It is to his glory to overlook an offense.
I tend to lose my cool when things are going just as I want them. I don’t consider myself a hothead, just someone who gets very passionate about things and wants them to run a certain way. At times, this has gotten me in trouble. I will say something without thinking; get angry without hearing all the facts, and pass judgment a little too quickly.
Working in a church as a youth minister, I sometimes find myself getting caught up in the politics of church work. God will reveal something to me and I want it NOW, my frustration mounting when people don’t listen to me. After all, shouldn’t they do what I say, since it came from God?
Patience gives us understanding. If you let patience kick in when someone angers you, you can find yourself understanding where they are coming from. Often times when someone hurts our feelings, or questions us in some way, we blow it way out of proportion. If we can just take a moment, gather our thoughts, and say a quick little prayer, we can find ourselves overlooking that which has bothered us.
Overlooking things doesn’t mean ignoring them. When we see injustices, patience doesn’t mean we go along our merry way, simply pretending those things don’t exist. Rather, patience gives us the ability to think strategically about how we can deal with the things in the Kingdom of God that need to be dealt with. That, in the long run, allows us to be even more effective! Overlooking those injustices allows us to not take them personally. That, in turn, will help us be more patient about the way we deal with things.