Proverbs 11:29,  He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.

One of the things I remember as a boy growing up in the 1940’s and the 1950s was the prevalence in homes of an embroidered wall plaque with the words, "Home Sweet Home."

Now days most are much too sophisticated to have such a sentimental display in our homes as we try to make all things shown stylish and up to date.

But that Home Sweet Home message was meant to remind us that homes were to be places of peace and comfort, a place away from the hustle and bustle of the world, where it would be easy to be oneself.

A place where your loved ones dwelt, a place where the things that you valued were awaiting your beckon call.

It was a place where your easy chair called you to sit and rest and perhaps nap and recover strength after a hard day’s work.

It reminded us of the importance of home.

It told us of the need to nurture that place and to make sure that outside influences did not harm its purpose of refuge for it was a place where important things were transacted.

It was a place where the family gathered around the dinner table being fed with food prepared by the loving hands of mother.

It was a place where you came to be alone with God to study his word and bring to his throne all the cares and woes of life knowing that He cared for you.

That message "Home Sweet Home" is what home should be.

It can not be imagined that Office, Sweet Office, or Shop, Sweet Shop, or Classroom, Sweet Classroom, would be posted but certainly home was specially deserving of such a hope as "Home Sweet Home."

I love to go home. Wherever I go it is always my desire to go home.

I am always ready to go home for my home is Home Sweet Home and my wife and I work to keep it that way.

But the man or woman of our proverb for today falters in that desire and disturbs and afflicts that tranquility that should be in his or her home.

Instead choosing to bring trouble to his own house and because of that there is a reaping of that which was sown for trouble sown is double trouble reaped.

When I ponder this proverb my mind is drawn to the middle east where it seems nothing ever changes for turmoil follows turmoil.

It is so apparent that those who wish harm and destruction of the Jews are so ready to trouble their own house for the result is their own house never prospers but is as the wind which comes and goes only leaving destruction and misery behind.

The result of this trouble is that only wind is inherited.

And in that inheritance there is no substance that brings growth and prosperity but only that which is transitory.

How often these days we see the results of terrible winds as they spring up quickly and just as quickly die down after accomplishing their destruction.

But they represent the transitory nature of a man’s life.

Winds denote vain knowledge and labor, empty words and hopes and bring Solomon to ask in Ecclesiastics 5:16,  what profit hath he that hath labored for the wind?

And the man who brings trouble to his house finds himself owning the wind and in owning the wind he gains nothing that is worth while or has any substance.

Winds scatter and toss objects about, and so being ‘scattered to every wind’ or ‘divided toward the four winds’ signifies complete dispersion or division.

Like a ship tossed about by the winds, with no set course, persons lacking direction are subject as Ephesians 4:14, says to being tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,

Ships tossed to and fro are rutter-less.

There is nothing that controls.

There is no direction, no fixed path, no fixed way.

There are no tracks that have been put in place because the child has not been trained in the way that he should go.

God’s word is not esteemed as the authority of life so there is no authority of life.

A man’s ways are just that, ways in the plural.

God’s way is one way, not many ways, not changing ways as a ship tossed to and fro as the many ways of a man for God changes not.

God’s way brings one to perform duties faithfully without neglect.

God’s way brings one to use privileges for God’s glory.

But the one who inherits the wind abuses privileges, and neglects duties in his family ending up with nothing for what can be banked from the wind?

John 3:8,  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth:

It comes and it goes for it cannot be harnessed.

God gives privileges to men and women, God expects duties to be faithfully performed but neglect and abuse brings only dreams and wishes and nothing of substance.

Foolish choices, will take a house down and in the doing of that those who do such things end up serving those who are prudent and wise in their choices for as it says in our proverb, the fool shall be a servant to the wise of heart.

Fathers, it is clear that God made you to lead your house but so many fathers lead in bringing trouble by being greedy of gain, working too many hours, wasting money on foolishness, seeking more pleasure for themselves than is right.

Depriving their family of personal attention, being stingy with resources, refusing to invest in the growth of their children.

Father’s can be lazy, refusing to take care of duties around the home, being slothful: for yet a little sleep, a little folding of the hands to sleep seeing their poverty coming slowly and surely creeping in unnoticed.

Fathers can also be too overbearing, harsh, critical, and domineering, which may discourage wives and children, or provoke them to wrath not bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

What a scourge is such a father who so controls his family without any semblance of love, kindness, or mercy neglecting their spiritual welfare and who moves his children to evil ways by providing such a poor example.

God will be quick to bring such men disappointment, poverty, and even disgrace when they become a curse instead of a blessing to their family.

On the other hand, a father who avoids decisions or being the leader in the home troubles his house.

The wife and children are in a troubled sea without a captain, tossed to an fro while lacking security and direction for their lives.

This kind of leaderless house is a divided house, a house that Jesus referred to in Matthew 12:25, where he said:

The other important part of the home is of course the mother, who when virtuous is a crown to her husband but read the rest of Proverbs 12:4,  but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

Overbearing wives and mothers can contribute to this rottenness.

They can, by using the pious excuse of "I was just trying to help" drive children to anger, bitterness, discouragement, frustration, and even hatred.

Wives can be full-time meddlers, always digging, nagging, and pressing suggestions about the unimportant matters of life.

What is the punishment for these selfish and foolish fathers and mothers?

They lose their families, and inherit the wind.

The children can hardly wait for establishing some relationship with others to get away from such parents but so many times the new relationship is worse than the first.

These children only come home under pressure wanting to stay away to escape the environment that drove them away.

They want so much to escape the aggravation of living with selfish or critical parents.

They want peace and quiet, with affection and happiness, where love reigns but so many times they will mirror their parents for they have lived under such poor examples for so long they know not how to do otherwise.

Those who lead in this fashion lose in the challenge of life.

They fall and take their place serving the wise in heart.

They will spend their lives in envy of those who walk in wisdom begging for the crumbs of life and wishing ill on those who have.

We have seen them on Wall Street as the occupiers who call for re-distribution of wealth.

They have chosen their lot for they have spurned wisdom.

Now this is not hatred to say this for this is simply what takes place when God’s word is rejected.

Within rejection of God’s word there is the machine that sets in motion the results of doing it your way.

Troubling your family has consequences and those consequences always result in loss and only wind will be left as an inheritance.

It will not be as Proverbs 13:22 says where,  A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

Many men leave nothing but the wind for their grandchildren for they spent their time in troubling their house.

They were foolish parents, who selfishly neglected their children or overbearingly interfered in their lives and the natural result will be to lose them.

They will die lonely, even if the children visit them out of obligation.

Foolish choices will cost a man any standing that he has for the prudent man will take dominion over him.

And these judgments are natural and appropriate for they have been established by God for the good of his creation.

God has given to us in His word example after example of men who inherited the wind for they troubled their own house.

They will stand before God naked, with nothing to show for their lives but wind.

Remember Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in the book of Numbers who troubled their houses when they rebelled against God’s man Moses.

Moses told the congregation to separate themselves from the tents of these men lest they be consumed in all their sins.

The people were wise to scatter for Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were about to inherit the wind of God’s judgment against them.

But not only did that holy wind of judgment move against the three, but it moved against their wives and their sons and their little children for when the ground clave asunder under them these innocent little children suffered the same fate as did their fools of fathers.

What responsibility fathers have for every one of their actions will affect their families and they will be held accountable to their maker.

Numbers 6:32,  And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. ³³They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. ³⁴And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.

They came back and looked in vain for any trace of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and all their families and all their goods but nothing was left.

Perhaps they saw a little swirl of wind produced by the breath of the earth’s mouth as it closed upon them.

This was nothing but the inherited wind for they had troubled their houses.

It is an amazing thing to remember that God chose Eli the Priest to rear Samuel the prophet, for Eli’s sons were sons of Belial, for they knew not the Lord.

Eli troubled his own house for his son’s knew not the Lord.

Eli was complicit in the corruption of the times for a portion of every sacrificial offering was stolen for the priest’s use in such a manner that men abhorred the offering of the Lord.

Eli’s sons were such to use their father’s influence to satisfy their own perverted lusts.

Eli was a weak and soft kind of man and instead of taking care of the problem he used soft talk to reason with his evil sons.

I Samuel 2:23,24,  Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. ²⁴Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD’S people to transgress.

But God would not have such things continue and he sent a man of God to Eli who pronounced the death sentence that Eli should have announced himself against his sons, Hophni and Phinehas.

The sentence not only included the death of this sons but the promise that there would be no carrying on of the name of Eli for there would not be an old man in the house of Eli.

What did Eli inherit, what did his son’s inherit?

Nothing but the wind.

Nothing but that which cannot be seen, only its effects, only its destruction.

It comes and does its duty but soon leaves and quietly moves into the place that it left.

Article in "The Projector" for Proverbs 11:29, INHERIT THE WIND, A MESSAGE TO MOTHERS AND FATHERS

Proverbs 11:29,  He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.

Ephesians 4:14 says, to being "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doc-trine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness." They have no direction, no fixed path, no fixed way.

God’s way is one way, not many ways. His way is unlike the changing ways of man. God’s way brings a man to faithfully perform his duties. God’s way brings one to use privileges given for God’s glory. But the one who inherits the wind abuses privileges, neglects duties in his family, and ends up with nothing to show for it.

The other important person in the home is the mother. A virtuous mother is a crown to her husband. However, Proverbs 12:4 warns, "but she that maketh ashamed is as rotten-ness in his bones." Overbear-