I want you to think of the Bible stories you were told as a kid in Sunday School. Dig deep. Picture those flannelgraphs. Feel the Play-Doh residue on your hands as you pick at the carpet on the floor of the church classroom. Maybe you were shown cartoons. Maybe you drew or colored pictures or did crafts. Maybe you even acted out skits (I’m jealous.)
Whether you heard these stories yesterday or fifteen years ago, I want you to remember the characters. There are a lot of characters that are popular even in secular culture. On a rainy day someone might ask where Noah is with his ark. When the small town football team defeats a bigger school, you might say David beat Goliath.
But I’ve never heard a husband say, “Wow, honey, you never eat the bread of idleness. I think I’ll go praise your works at the city gate.”
Let’s face it. Some stories stick better than others. A big boat in the middle of a flood is more appealing to kindergartners than learning about the Wife of Noble Character. We don’t rally up our sons and tell them to find a wife who clothes her household in scarlet or is really good at selecting wool and flax. That doesn’t really translate on a Flannelgraph.
And that’s ok. This kind of thing is better to tackle as an adult – what kind of mate do I want to live beside?
I’m not sure if “good at selecting wool and flax” immediately pops into your head. And scarlet doesn’t look good on everyone.
And what about for women? Is this an impossible ideal to strive toward? What if you don’t want to become a wife or mother? Can you still be a “wife” of noble character?
Well, heck yes.
Go back to those characters I told you to think about. Think about the ladies. Maybe you talked about Rahab in Sunday School – your teachers possibly glossed over the fact that she was a prostitute. She risked her life to save two strangers. She turned away from her way of living, which was probably her main source of income. And she became part of the lineage of our Savior.
I’m almost positive you talked about Ruth. Ruth was a BA lady. As a proposal of marriage, she laid at Boaz’s feet as he slept – a super un-kosher thing to do in those days. But this act was hardly submission. In a sense, she was forcing his hand, making her intentions clear. She ain’t no wallflower.
Women are BA. That’s a fact. Maybe we’re smaller and less muscular than men, but we make up for that in mental capacity. I’m not kidding. We’re far more intuitive to the needs, wants, and emotions of others. We can read a room, understand a situation within seconds. Women are mentally strong. Not to mention we can literally create a human being inside our bodies over the course of nine months and continue to sustain that life once it’s outside of our bodies. And go about our daily lives whilst doing it. (The Queen of England had two of her children during her reign. That means she was attempting to govern the country whilst pregnant, whilst nursing, whilst chasing two-year-olds. Not for the faint of heart.)
And that’s the gist of Proverbs 31. Ms. Proverbs 31 is not a docile, Downton Abbey-style dowager, who simply sits at home all day drinking tea. She’s a go-getter. She could be a mom, or a wife, or an entrepreneur, or all three. Ms. Proverbs 31 is a student in grad school, writing pages and pages of a thesis to prove that her education was not wasted on her. She’s a factory worker doing overtime to feed her family. She’s a size 2, a size 14, a different size depending on the store. She wakes up early to go to work or wakes up at 4pm to work overnight.
There’s no “one” Proverbs 31. If you are strong, bold, and love the Lord, you are Proverbs 31. Another interesting thing to note is that if you read Proverbs 31, which is 21 verses, her husband is only mentioned three times. The rest is praise for her. Her worth is not dependent on her husband or her children. Her worth is dependent on the Lord and who He has declared her to be.
Another thing – Proverbs 31 isn’t cute and frilly and flowing typeface with a floral background. The Proverbs 31 Woman gets dirty. Her hands are chapped and sore from work. She gives herself away daily. She laughs with people, cries with people. She loves deeply, no matter the cost. She’s not always smiling, her makeup isn’t always perfect. But she is who God declared her to be.
If you allow the Lord to speak that into your life, you too will have the power of Proverbs 31.
a. w.
Audrey D. DeBoer 