We were discussing the issue of how much time you give someone in a job for them to get used to it.
My colleague was adamant that certain things take time. I was equally adamant that certain things should have been discerned at this stage. He said quite clearly ‘wisdom takes time’. At the time I scoffed at his argument (of course he’s wrong and I’m right), but later on I got to thinking about his point a bit more. Especially when contrasting two verses in the book of wisdom.
Desire without knowledge is not good – how much more will hasty feet miss the way! (Proverbs 19:2)
I was intrigued by the concept of hasty feet missing the way. It never ceases to make me chuckle how often I’ve been a rush to get something done. Such is the rush that after I’ve got it done I realise I’ve made some mistakes along the way and I have to go back and correct mistakes. If I was the only mug who fell for that it would be bad enough, but others who I’ve witnessed falling for the same trap of rushing into something, with the best of intentions only to discover later on it was not what they should have done.
Rather desire needs knowledge so that the more informed it is and it can be, the more likely it is to steer the right path. That takes time. Sometimes it’s hard to just take that time. It’s frustrating, your desires are strong and urgent at times. Those who have been in ever more intimate relationships might be able to testify about how challenging it is to just wait. Why wait – yells everything in us – just go for it.
Wisdom, however, knows that such a rush can often lead to dangerous consequences.
Take for example what happens when someone offends you. The initial reaction might be to hurt them back. That might then lead to other negative thoughts towards the person. To ‘get something off your chest’ you might say something without thinking it through, without the knowledge and that might aggravate matters.
How often have you seen the situation. The couple go from an annoyance, to a disagreement to the full blown argument and soon everything and the kitchen sink is being thrown into it. Then it just takes him to say the one thing he’d been harbouring against her for so long. He just blurts it out. She stops suddenly and gives him the look. He glowers for 15 seconds, it sinks in what he’s just said and who he’s just said it to … and he knows where he’ll be sleeping for the next few nights, and who’ll be making his dinner.
A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense. (Proverbs 19:11)
Contrast the missed way of the hasty steps, and what a wise person does. Hasty steps miss the way – the wise produce and exhibit patience. Not allowing things to get to them, this same wise person won’t carry people by getting offended. They will overlook it.
What godly wisdom! People can behave as they like, and however hurtful it might be the wise person glories in overlooking it. Not to say they don’t acknowledge the hurt or the fact that the misdemeanour has consequences. What they refuse to do is to let their desire carry one without knowledge. They refuse to get impatient and lett their emotions get on top of them.
That sort of wisdom takes time. That is not something you are naturally blessed with. That is something you gain through intentionally seeking the wisdom and embracing it as it comes. That is something that does take time to mature and is expressed in the capacity to take time with others and not allow their failings to be a block to your desire to relate to them.
My colleague wasn’t wrong about that. It took me time, but I came round to his way of thinking of that score. He’s obviously still wrong about the other thing though!
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 