Proverbs 31: 21-25
“She is not afraid of the snow for her household,
For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
She makes coverings for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies belts to the tradesmen.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
And she smiles at the future.”
After an afternoon of running errands, I arrived home and pushed the button to open my side of the garage to pull the car in. To my surprise, my husband was standing in front of his car with a large box in his hands. It struck me as odd as he hardly ever came home early. The look on his face was strange; I asked him if he was okay. “I was let go today,” he responded with tears in his eyes. He had reached the pinnacle of his career as one of the vice presidents of an I.T. company that did a lot of business with the federal government, so his job appeared to be secure, until that day. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one let go; it was a downsizing that impacted a number of high-level positions.
As it was a Friday, our regular date night, we kept to our routine and went out for dinner. Walking hand-in-hand up the path to the restaurant, I cheerfully remarked, “I feel as if we should have a glass of champagne to celebrate.” My man looked at me; his quizzical look turned into a smile, “I think you’re right.”
On the drive over, my mind had already begun thinking of ways we could economize, perhaps by going back to our “needs, wants, and desires” strategy. I was also reminded of the last verse of our passage today which describes a woman with strength—not of body but strength of mind—who is filled with confidence, courage, resolve, living in confident, cheerful expectation of future events because she is prepared. Undoubtedly she is prepared in a physical sense but, moreover, in a spiritual sense. Her heart is prepared for whatever the future holds.
So, in that moment, as we walked into the restaurant, my husband needed to hear that I wasn’t afraid, that I wasn’t disappointed in him, that I was fully confident all would be well, because we trust in a big God and He doesn’t make mistakes; this didn’t take Him by surprise. God had a plan that He was already working out so that we could “smile at the future.” And raise a glass in celebration.
Heavenly Father, we praise You that You are our sovereign God, Who doesn’t make mistakes. We can trust that You are working out Your plan in the midst of a situation that may appear impossible to us. You’ve proven yourself over and over to be the God Who is faithful to take care of us when we can’t see a way. Remind us, O living God, to walk by faith and not by sight. You hold our future. You have a plan. You are in control. You love us. We thank you, Lord, and pray in Your name, Amen.
