{ Blog 365 #68 - Chasing the Proverbs 31 way of life }

 

It is getting harder and harder, to hold on to what being a woman really means.

I feel we are living in a world that perturbs the image of a woman, denigrates femininity and tries to place us, especially Christian woman, in a bubble with not so positive connotations.

 

The truth, is that there are so many of us out here, just wanting to live Godly lives, to be more like Jesus, and to really embody and encapsulate what a Proverbs 31 woman is.

The more the world pulls us in one direction, the more we need to pull the opposite way.  After all, as Jesus told us in John 15:19, "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

 

And more than ever, lately, I feel the weight of that word.

 

But as the world moves to push us aside, and to make us their own, I push to remove myself and fervently chase the Proverbs 31 woman values.

 

Looking at verse 11, it says "Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value."

It means that when our husbands trust her, they trust our words, and trust everything that we say.  When we make a promise, not just to our husbands but to anyone, it should be kept.  But truthfully, I've had to break promises before, and not because I didn't want to honor my word, but circumstances out of my reach made it so.

It doesn't make it right, but it's something I try to focus on in this journey.  To try and speak nothing but truth and be faithful in all ways.

 

Proverbs 31:15-27 talks about taking care of the home and all the ways a woman does this.   I have talked so much about the joy that homemaking brings me, and why I feel we need to be good homemakers, and pass that on to our daughters.

The work we do in our homes is so important, and though the world tries to tell us we are less than for not having a job outside the house, God says otherwise.

So I keep that in mind when I wake up early each morning, and move through my day, taking care of the house and my family.

 

Proverbs 21:20 " She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy."

 

We live in such a selfish world.  We are taught to do for ourselves, to put ourselves above others, to live in a me, me, me society.  But we are not of this world, as I said above, and God tells us to love others, to help the poor, to be mindful and helpful

Proverbs 31:27 "She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness."

 

Ouch!!!

That one hits close to home.  Though I pride myself in being a good homemaker, I won't lie and say that there aren't times that I don't get lazy.  That I don't want to just sit on the couch all day, watching tv, or reading, and have absolutely zero energy or patience, to wash another dirty dish, or fold another load of laundry.

I used to get upset with myself on days like these, but praying on it, God has showed me that He doesn't think any less of me for feeling that way, one day or another.  As long as that doesn't become the norm.

 

What that verse is trying to tell us, is that no matter what we have been chose to do in this life, we are to do it well, and work hard and not be lazy or avoid the tasks before us.  But especially in everything we do, do it with love and joy, and above all, for the glory of God.

 

As we near the end of Proverbs 31, one specific verse always catches my eye, and that is verse 30, because it says that "charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;  but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

Submitting to the will of God, is by far one of the hardest parts of being a Christian woman.  We have learned that everything is in our control, and if we want something, we can do it, and will do it, and nothing is out of our reach.  That may be so, in a way, but none of that matters if we are not submitting to the Lord's way and to His will.  

So many times I have thought that things had to be a certain way, that I needed this or that, that life had to fit in this picture perfect idea I had in my mind.  Then all of that is simply pulled out from under me, and at the time I am furious and don't understand why, but every time that happens, shortly after, and sometimes years later, I come to find out that the way God worked it out, was in fact what was best for me all along.

What I thought was right, what I thought was the only way, what I thought was what I needed, was none of that.

So we must submit, give our lives over and let Him lead.  Easier said than done right?

In closing, I don't want you to look at anything that I have written, and feel bad.  We are all in pursuit of the same thing, we all make mistakes, we all get caught up in the world around us, and none of us will ever totally embody the perfection that is the Proverbs 31 woman.

What matters is that we turn to the word, and work hard each day, in our homes, in our families, and especially in our pursuit to be more like Jesus.

Open your Bibles, read, it's the only way that we gain wisdom, and by doing so, we renew our minds and in turn, we renew our hearts and start really living in a Godly way.