A Woman Who Fears the Lord

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 31:10-31

Proverbs 31:30 NLT Charm is deceptive , and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.

Is this woman real? Since the passage starts out, “Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?” I’d like to think she’s fictitious. If you’ve met her, please don’t tell me. I’d like to think the writer of Proverbs is just giving us an ideal…someone he looked for but couldn’t find. Still, God inspired him to include this woman in His word, and He doesn’t waste anything. She can surely teach us something.

Her husband trusts in her. She does him good as long as there is life in her. Okay, I’ll aspire to that one. The New Living Translation says, “…she will greatly enrich his life. She will not hinder him but help him…”

Then we move on to wool and flax. And later she quilts her own bedspread. She does a lot of sewing. I’m asking God if I can still be virtuous without the sewing part.

She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast. I’ve got that one covered. I’ve been doing it for over 30 years now.

It looks like she must have exercised. She needed the strength and endurance to do all she had to do. The Amplified Bible says, “She girds herself with strength…and makes her arms strong…” The New Living Translation says, “She is energetic…” Regular exercise will do that for you.

Her children stand and bless her. She must have taken care of them. I consider it a privilege to be able to do that.

Why does she do all these things? I think this sums it all up, “…a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.” As the Amplified Bible puts it, she “reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord.” Reverent fear of the Lord turns everything we do…the cooking, the cleaning, and all the little things we do to tend to our families…into an act of worship.