The Proverbs 31 Woman Series - Part Two: ‘She Seeks, She Serves and She Spends Smart’
I hope you enjoyed last week’s post as I kicked off our series on the Proverbs 31 Woman. As I discussed last week, my thoughts towards her are definitely a mixture of both admiration and envy. Nevertheless, the lessons we can learn from her life are unquestionable!
Today we look at the next few verses of this powerful passage of scripture. Before these messages are transformed into blog posts, they’re recorded LIVE in my Facebook community. If you’d like to watch the weekly live broadcasts, be sure to join the group here.
1. She Seeks
“She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar.” (Proverbs 31:13-14)
There’s no question that this woman was ACTIVE. Verse 13 in and of itself would have been enough to make this clear. She was a woman who gathered textiles of various kinds from both near and far in order to make clothes for her household. It’s also interesting to note that this is not something she does begrudgingly, nor does she look for what’s most convenient. This is completely in keeping with her character, which we began to explore last week - her heart to honour and value those closest to her, as well as herself. This woman recognised that, after God, her family were her top priority and she ensured that she did all she could in order to nurture and care for them.
Now, in the 21st century more than ever before, women are almost just as a much a part of the workforce as men. Women are working outside of the home as well as inside it. We’re building businesses and we’re doing lot’s more in-between. I don’t personally feel that this means that our priorities need to shift. The Proverbs 31 woman is actually an amazing example of what it looks like for them not to! Completely flying in the face of the culture of her day, this woman cared for her family in abundance; however, she also recognised her gifting outside of the home. Rather than this meaning neglect of her family, it simply meant that she worked smarter and made the best use of her time she possibly could…
2. She Serves All
“She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.” (Proverbs 31:15)
Serial entrepreneur, Gary Vaynerchuk, says that one of the biggest reasons Uber is so popular is because it’s bought people back time. “Time is people’s most valuable asset”, he says. And I’d tend to agree with him. You can request an Uber 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. People will pay for that. Even more so as they get busier. So, what does that mean for a female entrepreneur who also doesn’t want to neglect family values?
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. Notice what our Proverbs 31 woman does here… She rises while it is ‘yet night’ not ensure food is provided for her household. This woman recognised that she had a lot to do, yet this didn’t mean that something had to give. For her, it actually meant that she had to make better use of her time. So she woke up earlier! We don’t have to burn ourselves out by taking on responsibilities which will consume and overwhelm us. However, we also don’t need to fear responsibility. We just need to schedule better. Is there space in your day which you could use more productively? Or a space in which you could carve out time for something you’ve been meaning to prioritise? Maybe it’s time with God, maybe it’s meal prep for the week, or exercise (I know that’s mine right now!) Let us learn from this woman here.
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Before we move on, it’s also important to note that not only did she provide 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. What might that look like for us today?
3. She spends smart
“She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.” (Proverbs 31:16)
Once again going against the norm of her day, this woman was able to purchase a field so that she could plant a vineyard and get a return on her investment (whether in produce for her home or in revenue as she sold it to others) I told you this woman was an entrepreneur - but more on that next week…
This is quite self-explanatory and leads us nicely into next week’s section of the series. However, more than it’s impressive that she bought a field is the fact that she did that without any of her other priorities slipping.
This woman was wealthy (she had servants and profitable businesses) however, that didn’t mean that she wasn’t resourceful with her money. We saw in the previous verse that she was generous and open-handed and I believe we need to be the same. However, she was also hugely wise and here we see a clear example of this. She purchased a field in order to receive a return. What can we learn here? Where are we investing in our personal lives and in our businesses in order to obtain a return?
As we learn from the Proverbs 31 woman today, may we remind ourselves of our need to prioritise and carve out the time where we need to. May we be generous of heart and of resources and may we be wise in where and what we invest in.
I HOPE YOU'VE ENJOYED EPISODE TWO OF THIS SERIES ON THE PROVERBS 31 WOMAN! DON'T FORGET, YOU CAN CATCH THESE STUDIES LIVE ON VIDEO EVERY MONDAY HERE. (OR YOU CAN CATCH THE REPLAY ON MY PAGE). LOVE AND BLESSINGS! :)WANT POSTS LIKE THESE DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX EVERY WEEK?