The Proverbs 31 Woman – A Life of Love and Service
By: Susan Angell, Valley Center, KS
When I was asked to write this article, I responded, “Sure!”, thinking to myself that this was going to be a fairly easy thing to do. The more I studied this Proverb, the more inadequate I felt. Ladies, this woman is amazing, and I feel sorely inadequate in writing about her. Quite frankly, she puts me to shame.
Now that my children are grown and my husband is retired, I have more time than I have ever had to be of service to the Lord. I’m ashamed to admit that I have not taken advantage of that fact. Don’t get me wrong, we still host group meetings, have social gatherings in our home, and teach Bible classes - BUT so do the younger families of our congregation. All of us need to be working for the Lord, and I’ll admit that I do have more “spare” time than I did in the past that I could be using in service to my King and Savior.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at this wonderful example of what a Godly woman can accomplish.
The woman in Proverbs 31 is called an “excellent wife.” She is of great value to her husband, and he trusts her with everything he has. She is good to him and works willingly, whether it is making clothing or providing food for her household. And get this, ladies, she gets up while it is still dark! I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually get up before daylight.
I have never had to weave flax or get the wool (to make the yarn to knit a garment) either! Think about the processes this woman had to go through just to provide food and clothing for all in her household, not just for herself. Not only does she provide for her household, she also goes out, looks over a field, buys it, and then plants a vineyard. I don’t know that she planted it herself, or if she just supervised the laborers who planted it, but she was there to see that it got done. How many of us as modern women complain that we have to go to the grocery store where we can pick up most everything we need, and a lot of things that we just want.
Looking at the rest of this Proverb, we see that she sells her merchandise, she stays up late working, she reaches out to the poor, makes bed coverings and clothing for herself and her household, and even sells some of the garments that she makes. She is wise and kind, looks after her own household and is not idle. Her children call her blessed, and her husband praises her.
I’m tired just reading about how much this woman accomplished. Women today have such an easy life in comparison because we have modern conveniences that shorten our time as far as cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry. We can put food in a crockpot and let it cook all day long while we are not even there, and then come home and have it on the table in a matter of minutes. Then, after dinner, we throw everything in the dishwasher and let it do the job for us. After that, it’s time to relax, right?
Did you see anything in Proverbs 31 where this woman sat down and relaxed? I don’t see that specifically, but verse 25 talks about her ‘strength’ and verse 26 tells us that she “opens her mouth with wisdom.” This woman had the wisdom to know that without the proper rest and nutrition she could not function properly. We all need times of refreshing to regroup and recharge ourselves. If we don’t take care of ourselves, we will burn ourselves out and be useless to others as well as to God our Father.
This woman’s service shows us three areas of love in her life – first, her love of God, second, her love of her family, and third, her love for others. Love was the motivating force for her to be of service to everyone else, and it should be for us as well.
No matter what conveniences we have or don’t have or what problems may exist, we all can serve and show our love to others just like the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31. We must strive to be the women that God wants us to be. However, we also need to strike the right balance between our love and service to God, our families, and others who need us.
Proverbs 31:30-31 – “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.”