Proverbs 31:16-24 Superwoman??

She considers a field and buys it;

    with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. 
She dresses herself with strength

    and makes her arms strong. 
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.

    Her lamp does not go out at night. 
She puts her hands to the distaff,

    and her hands hold the spindle. 
She opens her hand to the poor

    and reaches out her hands to the needy. 
She is not afraid of snow for her household,

    for all her household are clothed in scarlet. 
She makes bed coverings for herself;

    her clothing is fine linen and purple. 
Her husband is known in the gates

    when he sits among the elders of the land. 
She makes linen garments and sells them;

    she delivers sashes to the merchant. (Proverbs 31:16-24)

Ye gads! This is one busy lady! She works in real estate, has a vineyard which she apparently oversees, and somehow runs a handmade-goods business out of her home. No wonder the “excellent wife” needs to dress herself with strength! While she tends to the needs of her family, staying up well into the night to complete her work, she remembers that she needs to be strengthened herself. I’m certain that this would mean that she keeps herself plugged into the power of the Holy Spirit, because there is no way any of us, in our own strength, could accomplish what she does.

But, it would seem that she also remembers to take care of her body, for she makes her arms strong. Are you telling me, LORD, that she EXERCISES??? This is too much for me! :) The reality is, though, that without taking care of ourselves, we cannot take care of anyone else either. Does parking in the farthest parking space at Costco and walking in count??

Notice that while she herself is a tireless worker, she does not look down on those who cannot fend for themselves. She has compassion on the poor, opening her hand (which I take to mean that she supports the poor financially), and reaching out her hand (which I would guess means that she also does volunteer work where she interacts with the needy). No wonder the passage tells us, “She is far more precious than jewels.” (vs. 10)

I am actually amazed at the number of women I know who meet the description of this incredibly productive woman. They work inside and outside of the home, volunteer in multiple organizations, clothe and feed their children, run them all over town to different activities, supervise the homework, and make sure all are bathed and in bed on time! The hard part is keeping the relationship with the husband central in all of this busyness. It’s difficult to keep the husband a priority when being pulled in so many directions. In fact, I’d say it’s impossible apart from a healthy relationship with the LORD. 

This particular set of verses is about a WHOLE LOT of DOING! So lest we think that her sainthood lies in all that she does, remember that we are loved by our Father because of who HE is, not who we are. God is love, and the quality and quantity of that love are not changed by what you and I DO. Any good that we do in our lives is related to His power and strength being manifest in us. So when we look at the final verses in this chapter, we will find encouragement instead of feeling overwhelmed by the bar set here. Hang in there!