The Proverbs 31 Woman

     Women everywhere, young and old, seem to constantly be making a statement along the lines of "I want to be a Proverbs 31 woman". I myself have put that out there into the Twitter world many times, making the point that I will always be striving to become that woman. In case you are unfamiliar, a "Proverbs 31 woman" is a woman that the book of Proverbs describes. If you haven't read it, I'll get you up to speed: this woman is super woman and us ladies need to accept the fact right here that we will never be this woman. Verse 27 points out that she "doesn't eat the bread of idleness", and I'll be the first to fess up: No woman can ever turn down a good source of carbs, am I right? ;)
        Aside from the whole bread business, becoming this woman is a tough gig. A lot of times I think girls put it out there that they want to be more like this, but they're not really sure what all this means. Taking a look at the main points of the passage, we will have to:

-Constantly provide our husband/boyfriend with support and encouragement

-Put our hearts into everything we do, even if it means working long hours

-Always extend a hand to the poor                                                         

-Not fear when life gets hard                                                                

-Choose a respectable boyfriend/husband                                            

-Not be needy                                                                                     

-Exude confidence in all situations                                                           

-Be smart, wise, and on point with our speech                                    

-Seek God with all our heart, mind, and soul                               

    I dont know about you, but to me that seems like a lot to keep up with constantly at first glance. It's actually kind of overwhelming. As women, we want to be a pleaser. It's actually in our God-given blood. God tells Eve that she will forever be submissive and seek approval from Adam. We want to make others happy. What happens when we can't keep up that end of the deal (which is often)? Something called an emotional break down happens, which results in no one on the face of the Earth wanting to come into contact with us because we're... well... crazy. The truth of the matter is that we will NEVER be able to be a Proverbs 31 woman all the time. We won't be able to hold it together. We won't always help the poor. We will snap at some people, ESPECIALLY husbands/boyfriends. We won't be confident or wise, and sometimes we'll get lazy. Something that's also in our blood? Failure. We will try to be this amazing lady and we will fail. 

          As disappointing as that seems, there is one thing on that list that doesn't have to fail. As long as we are seeking God and his will, we will forever be successful. In seeking God, we are forever noticing that we can't live up to these standards, but He can. He is our grace. If we keep our eyes on Him, all these other things will come along too. When we get weary and tired from trying to become this woman, we can rest in Him and know that it's okay. He is enough, He can do this, all we need to do is let him lead us. And suddenly being the Godly woman that Proverbs 31 describes doesn't seem so difficult. 

           So ladies, I hope and pray that you make an asserted effort to seek God and ask him to help you become this woman. Men (if you've stuck around this long), I hope and pray that you are seeking to find a woman just like this, because you need her. And I hope and pray that God uses you to become the hope that the world desperately needs. 

       Proverbs 31:30 "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who loves the Lord is to be praised".