Verse For The Day - August 30 & 31, 2008

"...a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Prov. 31:30

Proverbs 31 - wow - what a chapter! I used to want to run from this passage in the Bible and from this picture perfect woman who seemed to do EVERYTHING well! I mean, I just couldn't relate, it's all I could do just to work on a "few" of these qualities mentioned, reading about all of them sent me into a state of overload! Martha Stewart to the 10th degree, ugh! But through the years, I've actually begun to kind of "like" the Proverbs 31 woman, I guess I could almost call her a friend now, not because I'm really any more like her now than I was then, but more because I think I understand some of what God is wanting to say through "her."

Some Bible teachers suggest that she is not even a "real" person, more an image of what a woman should strive to become, possibly meant to be more an inspiration to us than anything else. But, real or not, she has become a WOMAN OF INFLUENCE to so many of us through the years. God has given women, yes, even you & me, such an amazing responsibility in life to be "influencers" in the world around us...all through the Bible we see these incredible examples of women who chose to greatly influence those around them & the generations to come. God used many of them in powerful & positive ways - Sarah, Ruth, Rahab, Abigail, Mary, etc...,amazing women who had, more than anything else, a sincere reverence for God! Others chose to exert influence in their own way, for their own benefit & it reaped terrible consequences - Jezebel, Sapphira, Potiphar's wife, etc...

We see in this Proverbs 31 woman, so many outstanding abilities, but really ALL of these qualities - her wisdom, compassion, strong character & accomplishments - are a direct result of her reverence, or "fear," of God. It says nothing of her outside appearance, which our culture places SO much importance on, but her attractiveness & influence came entirely from her character, who she was "on the inside," a woman who chose to fear & honor God in all that she did.

Hmmm...who do you want to be like? Hopefully, we'll choose our example here from this passage. Don't run away from her, don't get sidetracked with who the media says is most important, don't say, "I could never be like that!" It's amazing what God can do with us, when our lives are FULLY in His hands. I'm so blessed to know so many of you amazing women - you are INFLUENCERS FOR GOD in this generation!