Worth More Than RubiesSample

A WOMAN OF COURAGE

In addition to our day-to-day responsibilities, I also understand there is a lot to be afraid of living in this fallen world. We don’t know what's going to happen tomorrow, and if you look at the news, it looks like it’s all just going down from here. This is why courage is a necessary virtue for us to live by, and of course, our Proverbs 31 woman does not lack this virtue either. It’s probably my favorite virtue as we see her example in Proverbs 31:25 that reads:

"Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the day to come." (Proverbs 31:25 NIV)

Don’t you love that she laughs at the days to come? Worry, fear, and anxiety try to knock at her door, but she doesn’t cower back. She doesn’t hide. She doesn’t back down. What does she do instead? She laughs! How is she able to do this? She knows the future is in her Lord’s hands, and she trusts Him.

As women, we are very capable of doing many things, but if we want peace from stress and anxiety, we need to be very clear on what we cannot do. One of the things we cannot do is know and control the future. We can look at the Proverbs 31 woman and see her do a lot. She is a wife, mom, citizen, entrepreneur, and socialite. She cooks, she leads, she teaches, she loves, and she gives. What she does not do, however, is try to control the future. She lets God handle that. So when she thinks of the future, she’s not filled with anxiety because she knows Who holds the future.

I completely understand the fear and anxiety that arise when we are facing the uncertainties of life. I understand the temptation to try to control matters on our own, but we then only fill our lives with a burden we were never meant to carry. Jesus says:

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:34)

If we want to have the clarity of mind to follow the example of the Proverbs 31 woman, we need to courageously choose to trust God instead of trying to take up responsibilities, weights, and control that are not for us. It takes courage to trust God, but the results are worth it because He can do so much more than we ever could.

We learn from the Proverbs 31 woman that when we trust the Lord with tomorrow, we will have peace for today.