I finally wrote a book… a devotional… and actually published it! My writings usually sit hidden in a drawer, but while living in Ukraine last year, my friend, Sarah Janisse Brown, encouraged me to join her in her publishing company, The Thinking Tree Publishing Company, LLC, and put some of them in print. Sarah is a fabulous illustrator! Oh, how I wish I had Sarah’s artistic talent…but then again, God gave me my own talents to use. The difference is…she has used hers greatly while mine have sat hidden in a drawer. But is that what God wants for us? According to Matthew 25, he doesn’t…

So, in my free time, I dusted off my notes, and we teamed up to create a devotional that can be doodled!

Since this is the 14^th day of the month, here is an excerpt of the 14^th devotional. First, though, read the actual Proverb from the Bible before reading the devotional. Then, if you have a copy of the book (link below), you will enjoy doodling on Sarah’s illustrations! I hope you like it!

Day 14 ~ Proverbs 14

“The heart knows its own bitterness and joy; he will not share these with a stranger.” ~Proverbs 14:10

How can we truly know another person, except by what we see and hear? Sometimes it’s easy to assess what is in a person’s heart based on their countenance. We can assume a person is joyful at that given second because of the belly laugh filling the air. We can assume a person is sad, hurt, or bitter when we see buckets of tears flowing down their cheeks. But, can we presume to know the reasons or the source? All too often, seemingly happy people (such as actor Robin Williams) take their own lives out of deep depression. We are frequently too quick to make assumptions about a person or situation before we see all sides of a matter (see Proverbs 18:17 & Proverbs 25:8). Yet, in our pride, it’s so easy to assume we know what another person is thinking or feeling. Most of the time, our pride prevents us from simply asking, and therefore our reactions to that person will be unfitting.

“A faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness will utter lies.” ~Proverbs 14:5

What happens when we assume to know the heart of another and treat them accordingly? If I see someone come through the door with a scowl across their forehead, should I assume they are angry with someone? And then, to top that off, they complain about the blue skies. Should I assume they are bitter or nitpicking? How do we not know that they simply woke up with a migraine headache or have recently suffered a great loss? In our humanness, we are all occasionally guilty of these kinds of assumptions. When we fail to seek the truth, we are uttering lies. The old Indian proverb holds true: “Just walk a mile in his moccasins before you abuse, criticize, and accuse.” (Taken from the poem Judge Softly, written by Mary T. Lathrap in 1895). Yet, if we walk the same path, even then, do we deeply understand the heart of another?

“A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.” ~Proverbs 14:30

On the flip side, making assumptions about another person’s joy is just as harmful. How often do we reject people because we believe their lives to be ideal? We become envious of their happiness while not being concerned with knowing the road they traveled to live in their joy. Often times, we are shocked upon hearing a mild-mannered, sweet Christian’s testimony to find she has a shockingly checkered past. Jesus says in Luke 7:47, “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Do we rejoice with those who rejoice? Or do we allow our own self-centeredness to prevent us from being genuinely happy about other people’s success and joy?

Our hearts know our own bitterness. We deeply feel emotion when we have loved another. People are fallible beings. When we place expectations on others based on our own desires, we will be hurt. People will always, at one time or another, let us down. But we are not alone in our bitterness or our joy. Jesus says in Matthew 6:8b, “… for your Father knows what things you need before you ask him.” Why expect strangers, or even those we know, to share in our joys and/or sorrows when we have a God who knows every deep hurt, feeling, and thought we’ve ever had? A sound heart comes when we let go of our expectations of others and place our hope and trust in God, the one who knows our heart more than any other.

“Those who fear the Lord are secure; he will be a refuge for their children.” ~Proverbs 14:26

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**If you enjoy devotionals that you can doodle as you read with beautiful artwork by Sarah Janisse Brown, founder of The Thinking Tree Publishing Company; my Proverbs Devotional & Doodles Journal can be found on Amazon here: Proverbs Devotional & Doodles.

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**Highlights in color are links for more information.

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