What A Gal

I am pretty well "in love" with the woman described in Proverbs 31, and by the time I’m through, I hope you will be, too.

If you compare, I think you’ll probably find that this woman is very nearly the personification of wisdom. What is said of her is similar to what is said of wisdom throughout Proverbs, and not the least of those similarities is the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom, and the fear of the Lord is the foundation for this woman. Everything else said about this gal would be merely dead works, without the fear of the Lord.

But while that is the foundation, there is a really nice building on that foundation—one worth looking at. One of the things I love about this gal is that she’s a person of foresight. She rises while it is yet night, and makes preparation. While everyone else is lying around, saying, "When something happens, I’ll get up and do something," this woman says, "I know something is going to happen very soon, so I’m going to get ready for it." In fact, preparation is so standard for her, and she is so prepared, that she doesn’t fear the winter (which is when nothing is productive) and she laughs at the future. She is absolutely confident that all will be well, because she’s following God’s specific instructions to her, and she is prepared.

I also love her boldness and confidence. She considers a field, and buys it. Period. Can I just be blunt, here? This woman would be called a "Jezebel" in many Christian circles—or, at the very least, she’d be called "unsubmissive." She’s neither, of course; she’s wise.

This woman is also neither lazy, nor passive, nor fearful. She is on the ball, a bit of a go-getter, and she manages her household carefully. She’s no slacker, and she is clearly not waiting for someone else (her husband?) to rescue her from responsibility.

She is not tight-fisted or stingy—with herself, or with others. She herself is clothed in linen and purple—she’s not going around in rags, and clearly is taking fine care of herself. Her bed is covered with tapestries, and her lamp doesn’t go out at night: hospitality is always available, and she doesn’t have to scrimp with her household, because she sees that her trading is profitable. And, of course, she opens her arms and hands to the poor and needy. She doesn’t have to even think about being stingy, because she knows she has more than enough.

This is what I see most clearly in this woman’s character: she is not doing what she does because she’s afraid of not having enough. She isn’t trying to show her husband up, and it doesn’t seem to cross her mind that he doesn’t provide for her properly.

She does what she does because it expresses who she is.

She couldn’t be happy doing anything else.

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