Welcome to my weekly Faith and Family Business reflections, where I (briefly) probe important questions that arise in family business – questions relating to behavior, relationships and legacy – from the angle of a Biblical story. For more information about this series, click here.
Jacob, traveling home, sends messages and gifts in hopes that his powerful brother Esau will not be angry after their long estrangement. Just before their meeting, Jacob has a life-changing encounter in which he wrestles with God, survives, and names the location.
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” (Gen. 32:30)
Jacob was at the mercy of a brother who previously planned to kill him because of his deception. The stakes were high, the stress palpable. Jacob was not just wrestling with God on a physical level; we can imagine the level of inner turmoil on the eve of this meeting after years of both blessings and deceit, of spousal rivalry and difficult in-laws. He makes it through the night.
Certain periods of our lives in a family business can be terribly stressful. The anxiety may be centered around a strained relationship, an unsatisfying role, or a business crisis. There comes a time when each of us wrestles with God, and with ourselves, over our past, our options, our choices, and our future. We hope, as did Jacob, to survive the strife!
Have you experienced significant inner turmoil over a family relationship or business situation? How did you get through it?