My second Faith & Family Business series considers the book of Proverbs. Though written thousands of years ago, these proverbs still have a timeliness and power today. My aim is to consider these maxims in the context of our current experience of living and working with family members. Thanks for your feedback and sharing this post with others. (Click on the red words below to see the verses.)
Our families are supposed to be the people that really know us. After all, we grow up together, live, and work alongside each other every day in the family business. Yet sometimes for all the togetherness, we feel alone in our work and life. We feel as if we are on a different wavelength, or even in a different universe from our closest companions. Our verse for today recognizes this:
The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy (Prov. 14:10)
The idea seems to be that the deep sadness of a person is known only to that individual. We are often unable to truly express to someone else the despair or anguish of our losses or failures. Similarly, it’s hard to fully communicate our most intense happiness.
But we are not alone. God knows and searches our hearts. He knows our secrets, sees our reasoning, and hears our meditations. We are not unattended in our anguish or joy — God is right there, with us. Recall just a few verses from Psalm 139:
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
When have you felt most alone in the family business? And when has God’s presence, His knowledge of your heart, been a comfort to you?