Becoming Proverbs 31… Getting Up Early!

Good Morning! Did you know that in order to be a Proverbs 31 woman, you have to be a morning person?? Just kidding! This week we’re looking at verse 15 and I am going to try my darndest to keep the length of this post reasonable!

*Previous posts in this series are located under the “Becoming Proverbs 31″ link under the categories tab.

“She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.”

It would be so easy to say “this is what this verse teaches; get up early and get to work!” But if I’ve said it once, I’ve said a million times– its not about what we do as Proverbs 31 women that makes us Proverbs 31 women, its our hearts behind what we are doing that makes us shine as Proverbs 31 women.

In an effort to keep the post shorter, I’m going to just focus on the first part of the verse here, “She rises while it is yet night.”

The ESV Study Bible tells us this about verse 15, “By providing for her household and her maidens before the day begins, the “excellent wife” multiplies the effectiveness of her work, because her planning enables everyone else in her household to be productive throughout the day. She does not lie in bed and wait for servants to attend to her.” (FYI I’m not sure why those words bolded, I didn’t do that on purpose. Just thought I’d clarify that.)

Wouldn’t it be nice to have servants? The Proverbs 31 woman did; the term maiden here means servant girl. The fact that she got up before the servants did says a lot about her initiative, dedication, discipline, work ethic, and organization! As much as I want to be like the Proverbs 31 woman and be that hard working and dedicated, I want to know why. Why did she even want to be so disciplined? What motivated her to get up while its still dark out?

The Bible teaches a lot about the value of being disciplined. (Prov. 5:20-23, Prov. 12:1, Titus 1:6-8, 1 Cor. 9:24-27, Hebrews 12:11, Prov. 25:28)

Proverbs 25:28 is a verse I keep coming back to: “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.”

Without self-control, I leave myself vulnerable to attacks of all kind. A lack of self-control leads to destruction of myself, of my home, of those I love and care for. The Prov. 31 woman seeks to be the opposite of that and I think I see why. She loves the Lord.

She loves God, she loves her family, she loves the people within her home. We learned last week that the Prov. 31 woman is Spirit filled and Spirit led in being like a merchant ship– her strength and power do not come from within herself, but from the greater power that moves her, the Lord and His Holy Spirit! In verse 15, we are seeing the fruit of that fact, she is disciplined! Her self-control is a direct result of her love for God and his work in her life.

Gal. 5:22 tells what the fruits of the Spirit are, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Because she is walking with God, we get to see the fruits– her self-discipline/self-control is amazing and so admirable!

I need so much work in this area it is not even funny! Especially when I consider how this verse applies to me as part of the Bride of Christ. How am I loving my church in that way? Implementing discipline upon myself in order to love and take care of others?  I’m not really sure how to answer that.  That concerns me.

How would you answer that question in reference to your role as the Bride of Christ? How much self-control are you using to be a light to others??

In your home and family, how does this apply?

With that said, we cannot do anything apart from the love of Christ. 1 Cor. 13:1-3 tells us that we could give up everything and do anything, but with out love, we accomplish nothing!

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,  but have not love, I gain nothing.”

I read a book once all about Proverbs 31 and came away feeling overwhelmed and burdened by the weight of this massive to-do list. The woman who wrote it actually taught that to become more like the Proverbs 31 woman, we all needed to rise early and get organized for the day. I will admit that I enjoy a morning and feel at peace when all is planned. But how does this make me more Christ like? Not all women function like me, A.R.– God made us all different and unique with a plan and a purpose! (Jer. 29:11)

Keep in mind that Proverbs 31 is an outward showing of an inward growing. Its Christ’s work in you that grows and develops these characteristics, gifts, habits, abilities. However you want to look at it, we are hopeless to get anywhere if we don’t let Christ first work on us.

How can you invite Christ to help you in your self-discipline? Ask Him for help this week and see what He grows!

Father God,

Thank You again for this beautiful scripture! I love how much I learn from Your word. Thank You for teaching me and all of us how we can be godly women. Help us all Father as we work to improve our self-discipline. Strengthen us against the attacks of the enemy. Grow us in Your love and in the grace we have in You. Lord I just lift up all the women who read this and ask that You would do great things in their lives. Be faithful to them, love on them, use them for Your glory! Thy will be done today in all of us,

In Your Name, AMEN!!

Love you all!!

March 18, 2010. Becoming Proverbs 31 Series. Leave a comment.

Becoming Proverbs 31… Like Merchant Ships Part II

Last week we talked about how the Prov. 31 woman is Spirit filled, provides variety, and mystery and excitement for her loved ones! Who knew being like a ship of a merchant would be so amazing!

If you missed last week’s installment, or any other installment for that matter, you can click on the categories tab to the right and scroll until you see “Becoming Proverbs 31.” All the previous  posts are there for you!

“She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar.” Proverbs 31:14

This week, we will be looking at three more aspects to being like a merchant ship:

*She is creative!

*She believes in quality

*She is strong and respected

She is creative!

“Mundane, routine, daily provision became a creative adventure for her! She is willing to explore beyond the familiarity and the convenience.” Elizabeth George

I love that quote!

Its easy to stick to what we know in all areas of our lives. (Even in our relationship with Christ!) The danger in this behavior is that we risk living in complacency and stunted growth!

Phil. 2:12-13 tells us to continue to work on our faith. “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,  for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

With that, many people tell me they are not creative, and I think they are wrong. We were created in the image of the Creator… if we are made in His image, is it not natural and innate within us to create?

Creative people are sort of generalized into people who scrapbook, make little crafts out of toilet paper tubes, and the like. Creativity is so much more than the “typical image” we have in our minds!

There is a blogger that I really admire and look up to. To cut back on their electricity bill and to amp up their dinner time fun, she started serving all their family dinners by candlelight! She occasionally will set the table all fancy as well using things she already has. She is amazing and I admire her creativity in her home! Another blogger friend was trying to eat from her pantry for a whole month. She was running low on ingredients, and threw together a homemade pizza using what she had, and guess what? She bombed! She and her family took one bite, made some awful faces because it tasted terrible, and ended up having a macaroni and cheese night instead! Guess what? They laughed the whole time! Who said being creative meant always doing it right!

Its funny because as I write this, my experiment of an applesauce cake is sitting on the kitchen counter– and will soon be in the garbage. Its gross. I tried!

I believe that this is a perspective issue for most of us. We continue to look at the work in our home or in our profession as just that– WORK. The Proverbs 31 woman sees the daily stuff as an adventure.

Phil 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”

Ps. 118:4 “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

With that said, don’t let yourself dwell in the spiritual “warm fuzzies” we talked about yesterday! Changing your perspective isn’t something that comes about by giving yourself a pep talk every morning. “Okay Rach, today we are going to look at the day as an adventure and gift from the Lord!” I’ve tried that ladies, and it only works for like… two point five seconds. What does work then? Sitting at Jesus’ feet like Mary did. Mary wasn’t concerned about anything but making sure she sat with Jesus. We all know how easy it is to become “Martha, Martha.” Time spent with God every day is essential to our ability to see our adventure, take the adventure and have some creative fun with it!

Just for fun, and because I always need this reminder, let’s look at Mary and Martha again.

“Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.  But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”  But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,  but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”Luke 10:38-41

Time with Jesus is so essential to our lives.

She believes in quality!

We talked about this aspect already in verse 13; “She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.” The word “seeks” tells us a lot about how seriously she takes the daily duty she faces in keeping up her textile business and all the textiles needed for her home. In verse 14, we get to apply this same principal to how she puts food on her table. So we can see that her desire to provide her family with the best that she possibly can also applies here– to the food she brings from afar. Sheila Graham calls this trait we’ve been studying “The trait not to settle for the mediocre.”

In some ways, I see this aspect as a reminder that we cannot get lazy ladies. We’ve seen the desire for high quality come up twice now, and we’re only on verse 14! Diligence is an important virtue that I so admire in the Proverbs 31 woman. Diligence is taught all through out the book of Proverbs, not just in chapter 31!

Prov. 12:27 “Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.”

Prov. 10:4 “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.”

Prov. 12:24 “The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.”

Prov. 13:4 “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.”

Prov. 13:24 “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”

Prov. 21:5 “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.”

There is much to be learned about diligence. We can only become this sort of diligent woman if we allow God to develop the virtue within us as we mature in Him.

“Virtue is developed over time as you allow God’s Spirit to do a special work in your life.” (From Lady In Waiting by Jackie Kendall and Debbie Jones.)

Remember, we are God’s work in progress. Don’t let your heart feel burdened by being/doing all these things now. Don’t row your ship! Remember what we talked about last week? God needs to be that source of power and strength that guides us through our lives. He is continually working on us!

Eph. 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Phil. 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

And finally….

She is strong and respected!
“No merchant’s ships, not Solomon’s Navy, ever made a more advantageous return than her employments do.” Matthew Henry

Solomon’s Navy was renown throughout the world! It was powerful, prosperous, and respected. We are like those very same ships! Be encouraged! Solomon’s wealth was incredibly numerous! As you continue to mature in Christ and allow Him to work through you, the wealth and blessings you will bring to Him and to your family here on earth will be incredible!

Let’s pray!

Father God,

Thank you for saving us and for blessing us with this encouraging word from Your scripture. Lord mature us, make us godly women before You. Teach us what it means to live the adventure you’ve placed before us each and every day creatively and with thanksgiving. Mature us in our diligence, especially when it comes to You and meeting with you each day. Help us Lord to share the blessings You’ve bestowed on us with the people you’ve placed in our lives.

Lord You are good and Your mercy endures forever! Thy will be done in our lives.

In Your name,

AMEN!

March 11, 2010. Becoming Proverbs 31 Series. 1 comment.