proverbs31-woman.com

She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She gets up whilst it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.

Wow! A lot to live up to! The Proverbs 31 Woman is not only wise with what she chooses to work with, she is the one doing the work. She selects carefully the items she brings in to her home, and the foods she feeds her family and servants. Having eager hands indicates that she loves what she is doing and pours herself into what she is doing for household fully. That she can’t wait to get into what needs to be done each day.

I looked up ‘eager’ in the Collins English Dictionary and it describes the feeling (and it is a feeling) as being ‘impatiently desirous’, or ‘anxious or avid’. Another meaning is ‘characterized by a feeling of expectancy or great desire’. So the verse above could well mean that she was anxious to get her work done (and if there’s a lot to be done in a day then I guess we all feel that way and are keen to get an early start to achieve as much as possible), or perhaps she was pleased with her plans for her family for the day and could not wait to get it completed as she had a great desire to share it with the family. There are a number of ways you could read this. But the end result is, I’m sure, that she had much to do and she was responsible for the end result of what needed to be done.

She works long hours, getting up before the rest of her family, to prepare for her day and to prepare food for them. But it also shows something else. Don’t forget the mention of the ‘servant girls’. Verse 15 shows that she didn’t work alone – she had help, in this case, her servant girls. But an important point here is that she also cared for those who helped her. Whilst it is not common today for the majority of us to have servants, it would be an expectation that family members pitch in and help with family matters and errands. The mention of the servant girls shows that she didn’t do it all alone, although she had responsibility for what needed to be done.

Bringing things from afar, being like a merchant ship, indicates that she not only made use of resources available close by, but if there was something not good enough (or not available) for her family, she sought further afield to find the right things to bring into her household. Sometimes we just ‘make do’ with something we’ve found close to home, although it’s not quite what we were looking for, or not quite the right quality, or not quite the right… something, but because of lack of time, resources, or just plain impatience, we tend to ‘make do’. This verse shows that the Proverbs 31 Woman didn’t just ‘make do’, she brought things from afar into her household.

The Proverbs 31 Woman was ultimately a wise shopper, careful with the household income, careful choosing the foods and items purchased for the household, careful with what she did with the hours she had, providing for her family in a loving and wise way.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to be wise with what I choose for my family, with the hours I work in my home or out of home, and grant me the eagerness I need to carry out my duties as wife and mother in the way that You would desire for me.

resources, income,proverbs 31, wisdom, work

My apologies if you’ve tried to post comments in the past and have been unable to do this easily – I hadn’t realised that when I set up on my own server that the settings were different to what I’d had on the free server.  It’s now been adjusted and whilst comment moderation is necessary, it certainly shouldn’t be arduous for you now to leave a comment – even anonymously if you prefer.  KMT

Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

Does this describe you if you are a wife? This is not to say that the wife is his slave, but that he values her abilities and skills and appreciates all that she contributes to the household and the family. That everything she does is to the good of the household, thereby bringing with her a sense of confidence, security, contentment, warmth, love, all the things that a wife and mother represent. Other versions talk about the heart of the husband having full trust in her. And that’s how it should be – a wife having trust for her husband and her husband having trust for his wife.

Have you given good reason for your husband to trust you and have full confidence in you? It’s not too late to work towards this goal and become a proverbs 31 woman.

Prayer: Father, please work with me each day and help me become a proverbs 31 woman, a wife to make my husband proud and a mother to make my children proud.

My church is planning a financial seminar in August and I’ve been asked to present on budgeting.  I do budget my own earnings and tithe as well, and know the basic principles but I wanted to add to my knowledge so started seeking out biblical teachings on organising money in the home.  I didn’t have to look far.  There were some good things on the web and in my local Christian store a series of books written by Larry Burkett.  I’d not read any of his books before but already I can see he knows his stuff and it’s soundly set in biblical teaching.  Personal Finances is a great, easy to read, not a long book, and worth getting, and reading.

So, why am I mentioning it here?  It’s because on page 15 he’s talking about how important it is to use our abilities for God’s glory. And then he mentions that wives and mothers excel at what they do.  That usually the mother becomes the teacher of habits in the home and her attitudes are generally reflected by her children.  If she excels at what she does and keeps the home well organised, she can be a great asset to home financial planning (direct text). Now, doesn’t that sound like a Proverbs 31 woman?  He hasn’t mentioned that book in this passage but throughout his book he does reference lots of scripture – I highlighted this passage and wrote in it afterwards, Proverbs 31 woman.

If you need some biblical guidance in home finances, budgeting and tithing (and don’t we all?) then I recommend you look for this book or others, to help give you that guidance.  The latter verses of Proverbs 31 touches on this area.  KMT