Proverbs 31: 26-31
“She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
‘many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.’
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”
A license plate imprinted with the letters and numbers from our focus chapter has been a fixture on my car since 1988. Little did I know at the time my husband ordered it for me that I had a lot to figure out about what the verses really mean. Even though we have been married for nearly 58 years, I’m still figuring them out!
You may feel there’s no hope for you in attaining this capable woman’s noble stature. My guess is the Proverbs 31 woman didn’t have it figured out either, but she knew the One who did. She went about her life doing her best—not looking for compliments or kudos—with a desire to honor her family and to please her heavenly Father. It is said that the honor paid to this woman towards the end of the chapter might have been after her passing, and that these verses indicate a sum total of her life of virtue, which means it took her whole life to attain this noble character. This was the case when my mother died; my husband delivered the eulogy, using each verse to honor her virtue and faithfulness as a wife, mother, grandmother, friend and servant.
Today, let’s look in a mirror and take an honest inventory of where we are as capable women; you may be surprised at how you measure up. The Proverbs 31 woman, whether married or single is:
Noble, faithful, valuable, trustworthy, creative, strong, enterprising, organized, tireless, giving, fearless, of good reputation, temperate, confident, kind, energetic, diligent, praiseworthy and reverent towards the Lord.
That is you, dear reader, and me! God is the One who has produced these qualities in us. Being a woman who fears the Lord by being in His Word, praying, and yielding to Him will enable the Lord to continue to grow all of these qualities in us. We may never hear a, “Well done” from anyone while we live on this earth, but we will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant” when we get to heaven.
Father in heaven, we thank You for providing this picture of a capable woman of virtue. We may fall far from this ideal in our own earthy eyes but, in Your mercy and grace, You see us differently. Thank You for loving us just the way we are. More than anything our desire is to fear You, O God, to be in intimate fellowship with You, and for our lives to bring glory to You. Speak to us; create in us clean hearts and pure minds that honor and please You. For it’s in Your name we pray. Amen.
