Present-Day Proverbs 31: Work and Worth for WomenSample

Day Five: Strength and Dignity in Action

It has been said that one of the biggest reasons the taxi services we can now order rides in from our phones are so popular, is because they’ve bought people back time. You can request a ride from your phone with very little need to stop what you’re doing in the meantime, without needing to go in search of the nearest cab station or taxi rank. People will pay for that. Even more so as they get busier. So, what does that mean for us present-day Proverbs 31 women?

I believe this is simply a charge for us to work smarter and carve out the time we need to get everything done as opposed to squeezing it in. Now while this might induce eye rolling as you consider just how busy you are right now, go with me here a minute…

This woman recognised that she had a lot to do, yet this didn’t mean that she slumped into victimhood and suggested that she wasn’t able to do what she felt she was being prompted to. For her, it actually meant that she had to make different use of her time. For the Proverbs 31 woman, this meant waking up earlier. For some of us, it might mean slipping in a couple of hours of work over the weekend or once the kids are in bed, or choosing to cut down hours altogether for a season. Whatever way works best for you, we certainly don’t have to burn ourselves out by taking on responsibilities which will consume and overwhelm us. We’ve spoken a little about the importance of boundaries - about the fact that without them, burnout can most certainly be at play. However, we also don’t need to fear responsibility either.

Beyond providing food for her family; she also provided it for her servants. She had a generous heart of hospitality and didn’t allow her apparent wealth to muddle her morals, nor did she wait to be waited on. She served all with selflessness.

Being industrious, hardworking and even entrepreneurial is not an excuse to slack on what it means to look to the needs of others as well as our own, and the Proverbs 31 woman powerfully displays this to us. In fact, it could be argued that working hard actually in some ways kept her humble. She didn’t want to rest on her laurels and live off of the wealth she’d obtained. She wanted to continue to work – making good use of her time, and to demonstrate that ethic to her family.

Verses 25 and 30 are ones which speak of this woman’s character. We’ve gotten to know her pretty well over the past few days, and so this wouldn’t exactly be a shock, but it’s important to note what verse 30 says. It’s the woman who loves, serves and fears God who is ‘to be praised’ as opposed to simply feminine charm and beauty. The passage isn’t indicating that those things are bad, of course (our femininity is certainly something to take joy in!) but rather, it causes us to consider what our character is comprised of.

Strength is a repeated attribute when it comes to the Proverbs 31 woman, and this is important for us to note. Sometimes, life will throw hardship at us. Things won’t always go to plan and we’ll find ourselves questioning whether we do indeed have what it takes to do all the things we’ve been called to. The beauty of this vulnerability though, is that in our weakness, God’s power is made perfect. (2 Corinthians 12:9) And so, if right now it feels as though all this talk of ‘strength’ is just a bit overwhelming because you feel anything but strong, remind yourself of the unlimited source of strength whom you have unlimited access to.

Strong, dignified, and God-fearing are certainly all traits I want to be marked with, which is why I see the Proverbs 31 woman as such an example to us in the present-day. Not a checklist for us to mark ourselves by, but more an epitome of encouragement and an insight into what’s possible.

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