Proverbs 31:31

 Proverbs 31:31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,

and let her works praise her in the gates. ESV

Seems a very appropriate verse to round out the chapter with. Pretty straight forward. We know Woman 31 deserves the rewards, the fruits of her labors and the praise of all her works. But what about me? What would the fruit of MY hands be? Rewards for resourcefulness or consequences for laziness? What would people praise me for at the gates? Or would people mumble and complain about me at the gate? Let's echo this verse as a reminder to strive to be a Woman 31 and live a life that is GOD fearing and wise so that the fruits of our hands and the “praises” that come back to us are positive, uplifting and GOD worthy!

Proverbs 31:30

 Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. ESV

Eek, now it gets down to the dark side of the woman. We all know how hard it is growing up in our culture of perfectionism and photo shopped/air brushed beauty. But based on this verse, I have a feeling it really wasn't that much easier 4000 years ago either. Satan knows a woman's buttons and can manipulate us with ease if we let him.

I am so glad that a few verses ago in Proverbs 31:22, we've already clarified that Woman 31 is well dressed and put together. GOD doesn't desire for us to be dowdy, sack cloth wearing, ugly women. But our focus should not be in promoting our “charm” and “beauty”. Our focus should be on reflecting Christ. Our “looks” should not be a distraction in either direction from showing the world what a godly woman looks like. When people look at you, what/who are they seeing?

Proverbs 31:28-29

 Proverbs 31:28b-29 ...her husband also, and he praises her:

“Many women have done excellently,

but you surpass them all.” ESV

We all absolutely love to hear someone saying something nice about us. I know I personally love to hear about it third person (I'm horrid at responding to compliments and such-something I am working on daily) while others simply adore standing ovations. Either way, Woman 31 well deserves her praise and adoration from her husband. He is proud of her, she has done beyond excellent. I remember striving in school for excellence and here Woman 31's husband declares she has surpassed excellence. Wow!

I truly doubt Woman 31 has lived her life and been the woman she's been through these previous verses simply to hear her husband boast about her. Woman 31 IS who she IS and the bonus has been that her husband is proud of her and glad she is his! I want my husband to be more than glad that I am his!

Not a wife or mom? If we were to apply the lifestyle principles of Woman 31 to our daily lives our bosses, managers, friends, and family would take note and would have no choice but to at least ask, “Why?”, and likely commend us for jobs well done and initiative taken. And on the chance that the people directly surrounding you don't notice right away, please remember that GOD sees our hearts. GOD knows and his opinion of us is of much more value than any earthly praise or comment.  

Proverbs 31:28

Proverbs 31:28a Her children rise up and call her blessed; ESV

And every mama out there wonders how Woman 31 managed to have her children “rise up and call her blessed”! But if we were each to focus on being the women that GOD created us to be; if we were to look to Woman 31 as a role model and strive to be all that we were meant to be; our children (friends, family, co-workers) would surely notice a change in us.

How many times have I gotten frustrated with my children's actions when in reality they have actually simply echoed my own? What sort of negative things do I need to focus on getting out of my life that I see those around me copying? What positive things do I need to grow and nurture that I want those around me to duplicate?

Proverbs 31:27

 Proverbs 31:27 She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. ESV

This verse holds so much! One little sentence, but so much importance. We've already seen how Woman 31 keeps such good management over her home in the tangible, physical sense. But here she's looking to the “ways” of her household....the “going ons” inside her home.

We are the gatekeepers of our home! Do we know what's going on in our homes? What comes through the door via internet, tv, music, cell phones, friends, even school work? We MUST be vigilant in protecting our household. No one else is going to protect our family for us. The government doesn't have our family's Spiritual well-being in mind. Our culture is aimed at destroying godly family structures. And our church, well, as much as our church family would love to help protect each and every person from evil, GOD put us in charge of each of our households. We can find support, encouragement, and advice from our fellow Christians, but the job of protecting our families and households is given to us by GOD.

The second part of that sentence might as well say, “does not spend time online.” We all joke about facebook and it's time-sucking abilities. But in reality all of the social media, instant access wifi, and constant connection to the world wide web of (mis)information can suck up so much more than just our time. Be wise with your time “online”. Be wary of more than just “wasting time”. If you're online, connecting with someone or something, sending messages, etc.... be sure that it's uplifting, Christ honoring, and not sucking you down a hole of muck and distractions!

Proverbs 31:26

 Proverbs 31:26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.  ESV

Ahhh, a verse we can all relate to! Every time we open our mouths, wisdom and kind words flow from our lips right? What a thing to aspire to! 

Stop and think of the godly women in your life, past or present, who emulate this verse. Were they perfect? Not this side of heaven. Did they make mistakes? I'm sure. But the reason these women stick out in your mind as someone special, important, and key in your life is because you knew when they spoke, truth and wisdom would be heard. Not only did they listen and speak in wisdom, they were also kind-even when kindness hurt a little.

We caution so often to avoid gossip, cutting down others, and any hurtful speech. But let's not simply avoid gossiping; lets determine to speak in wisdom, teaching with kindness, uplifting others. I can only imagine the change that our families, our church, and our town would see if each of us women committed to focusing on implementing this verse into every part our daily lives.   

Proverbs 31:25

 Proverbs 31:25 Strength and dignity are her clothing,

and she laughs at the time to come. ESV

In our society and culture, this verse almost seems foreign. Strength and dignity or so convoluted and distorted, twisted by Satan. But if we focus on GOD's strength and true dignity we could become beacons of light and truth in a dark, twisted world.

It isn't always easy, but when we take our focus and truly place it on GOD we are able to laugh at “the time to come.” The times the future looks horribly bleak and the unknown ahead seems to get more and more twisted and ugly, are the times I realize that the things of this world haven't really changed all that much. What I find is that my focus has gone from looking at GOD and eternity and started looking around at here and now in this crazy world.

Seems there was a certain disciple in that exact same position in Matthew 14:22-32  "Immediately He (Jesus) made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.  And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,  but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.  And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.  But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”  And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”  Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”"

It's so easy to point our finger at Peter for doubting, for taking his eyes of Christ in the midst of the storm when mere minutes before he had the faith to step out of the ship onto the waves. But we're just as human as Peter and do the exact same thing, over and over. Let's focus on our role model, Woman 31, and cloth ourselves in the strength and dignity that is our Faith and trust in GOD Almighty so that we can laugh and go into the future without fear.