Proverbs 31 Woman (P31W) - Part III - OR - I Always Work Hard. (Proverbs 31:16-19).
Proverbs 31 Woman (P31W) - Part III - OR - I Always Work Hard. (Proverbs 31:16-19).
16 She knows how to buy land
and how to plant a vineyard,
No, I don’t think God expects us to be able to grow a vineyard to be considered a P31W, but do we know how to cultivate something? Do we know how to invest (buy land) and how to nurture (plant) something of God and see it produce fruit (aka - vineyard metaphor)?
Vines and vineyards are often beautiful analogies or word pictures in scripture. Could this be a metaphor for how we as women invest in other Christians? Maybe, maybe not. Worth some contemplation? Perhaps.
This verse also could be a comment to a woman's industry? When I say “industry” I mean sedulity or “the quality of being constantly diligent and attentive”. I never think of these verses as a slam on any type of work women do. We’ve been told for years, women can do anything. Yes, there are exceptions, but if the church wants something done or an event accomplished, they give it to those church ladies. I’m not trying being sexist, just calling it like it is in real life. Everyone could name a "get-'er-done" female in their lives.
Example: Think of those women, in your family, in your communities, who have such industry, administration skills and a spirit of confident execution. We all know one or two. Those secretaries, those sister’s who can host anything from a Tupperware party to a ladies night fabulously, those friends who know how to be hospitable when just two of you visit, those organizers and “general managers” we come in contact with could be examples of women “buying a field” and “planting a vineyard”. Women who can take an idea, make a plan and see it through to completion. You probably know someone who invests in “soil” and cultivates (lives) it with exemplary industry, and you never saw the willing godliness in their service. Take note and watch their examples.
17 and she always works hard
Oh there it is. Sucker-punched. Women, how often do we ALWAYS work hard? How often do we REALLY work hard? The determination of a woman can really turn a wonderful woman into a proverbial donkey at times. I am talking of myself here. I am not calling women asses for fun, but for the fact that when we set our minds one way, it takes an act of God to undo that decision. So how often do we set our minds to ALWAYS working hard? Are we always giving 100% of ourselves to whatever God has put before us? Do we ALWAYS do our best? Our 110% best? Or do we do what we know is just enough, so that we have time to watch our TV show that night?
I’m not saying we can’t relax and watch our favorite drama, sitcom or reality show. We need down time. We would combust without downtime or personal time. But in our areas of “work” whatever our job may be, do we really ALWAYS work hard? I know I’ve gotten by on “good enough” way too often. Always means, “At all times; on all occasions”. I don't "always" work hard.
The NIV bible says it differently;“She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks”. She is strong for whatever she needs to do. That’s a thought I find comforting. God’s women are made strong for whatever they are called to do. That’s peace to me. I find that beautiful. Vigorously means, with vigor or physical strength and good health; with effort, energy, and enthusiasm. To ALWAYS work with effort and energy and enthusiasm, but to also KNOW also that I’ll be made strong for whatever work that is, is really what gives one peace. I work myself to the bone a lot with a variety of things. Not always my best efforts or enthusiasm, but to the breaking point. So this verse, of always being made strong by God for whatever task, even if it’s just not falling asleep in church when I finally make it to another Sunday, means I will be made strong! Maybe right now we aren’t always hardworking and strong, but God can make us so if we ask. There is much beauty in this image. Imagine what women could be if they grew in this verse alone!
18 She knows when to buy or sell,
and she stays busy
until late at night.
Anyone with children will stay up late just to have an hour alone. But here our industry is called on again. We know when to buy and when to sell. I don’t understand the stock market so don’t look at me. I haven’t got a clue! I’m not business-minded. But this verse holds over the idea of being diligent and industrious all day long. Not just when you’re working or when you’re being watched, but “on all occasions”.
However, maybe this first part can apply to our “retail therapy” days. When we go shopping for the heck of it or when we need to, it doesn’t matter. Maybe it’s extending that industry of keeping busy to being wise. To “know” means to “have knowledge or information concerning”. So maybe this means a call to wise purchases. Maybe we’re suppose to wisely purchase new clothes or those super cute shoes!!!! Do I need them? Is this wise?
Example: My continuous college status has put my picture in the dictionary under “poor college student”. So when I am at the store for groceries or walking a mall as a leisure activity, it has become my habit to as ask God about anything remotely considered an “extra” purchase. A lot of times, he tells me to wait. Another time, you can make a purchase like that. Wait. Knowing when to buy and when to sell. It has been good for my discipline and good for my bank account. Knowing, via God and obedience, when to buy and when to sell is actually a very happy state. I never feel regret or upset when God tells me to not buy a pair of shoes or the fixings for a giant cheesecake. He has a better plan or cuter shoes in store for me. Another time, perhaps.
19 She spins her own cloth,
Um, my mom will sew me something once and awhile... or tailor a garment when I need an adjustment. But she doesn’t spin her own cloth. She doesn’t, so I never learned to. Does that mean she failed and I fail too. F’s on that test. We are NOT P31W!!!!!!
No, not really. Again, I think this is a verse that calls us to work with industry and love and willingness. Or so I am deciphering. Any other interpretations are welcome.
My mother LOVES to comment about “how the pioneers did it”. Living in the land where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived and traveled, my mom loves to talk about how pioneers went without hot showers, electricity, churned their own butter, cooked with wood burning ovens and if you drop a box of matches it would spontaneously ignite. I’d love to see my mother in the pioneer days. I’d watch that reality show with regularity and a bowl of popcorn.
In our age of convenience and immediacy, we’ve lost a lot of appreciation for handmade stuff. When we see it at craft fairs, we’re blown away. The current vogue is to make crafty stuff left and right. Just look on Pinterest or artsy blogs and you’ll be overwhelmed. This may be a stretch but, let us bring in this idea of industry and “she spins her own cloth” to the trend of DIY projects. They are all about doing it with your hands, your creativity, (yourself!), rather than buying it ready made. They’re all about being crafty and hands-on, but maybe the emphasis should be on that she actually does it!
A woman’s hands are important. Hands are such lovely limbs and they do such great work. Go ahead and stop, and look at your hands. They have lifelines, knuckle creases, some scars maybe and personally, really bad looking fingernails! Consider the power, the skill and training they’ve been through. What have you trained those hands to do? Burp a baby? Play the piano? Julienne carrots? Repair computers? Sketch or paint? Change oil and check spark plugs? Collect toothpick holders? Play basketball? Consider the work you use them to do, the work they do right now and the work you want them to accomplish. Those hands are amazing tools! You already spin your own kind of “cloth” in life and I pray God’s blessings on it!
More NEXT TIME in P31W Part IV!!!!
DISCLAIMER: I am not a trained biblical scholar. I am just curious, bible hungry and care for my gender and our crazy methods of learning and growing as Christian women in a world that has a pretty skewed image of what women are or should be. If at any point you see a huge flaw in my logic or addition that needs to be added to the interpretation, please contact me and help me to correct or add to my expounding on this chapter.
I do not claim to have all the answers or have the CORRECT translation and meaning of all the verses in this series. I am just digging and sharing my findings and research concerning this chapter.
4/2013
16 She knows how to buy land
and how to plant a vineyard,
No, I don’t think God expects us to be able to grow a vineyard to be considered a P31W, but do we know how to cultivate something? Do we know how to invest (buy land) and how to nurture (plant) something of God and see it produce fruit (aka - vineyard metaphor)?
Vines and vineyards are often beautiful analogies or word pictures in scripture. Could this be a metaphor for how we as women invest in other Christians? Maybe, maybe not. Worth some contemplation? Perhaps.
This verse also could be a comment to a woman's industry? When I say “industry” I mean sedulity or “the quality of being constantly diligent and attentive”. I never think of these verses as a slam on any type of work women do. We’ve been told for years, women can do anything. Yes, there are exceptions, but if the church wants something done or an event accomplished, they give it to those church ladies. I’m not trying being sexist, just calling it like it is in real life. Everyone could name a "get-'er-done" female in their lives.
Example: Think of those women, in your family, in your communities, who have such industry, administration skills and a spirit of confident execution. We all know one or two. Those secretaries, those sister’s who can host anything from a Tupperware party to a ladies night fabulously, those friends who know how to be hospitable when just two of you visit, those organizers and “general managers” we come in contact with could be examples of women “buying a field” and “planting a vineyard”. Women who can take an idea, make a plan and see it through to completion. You probably know someone who invests in “soil” and cultivates (lives) it with exemplary industry, and you never saw the willing godliness in their service. Take note and watch their examples.
17 and she always works hard
Oh there it is. Sucker-punched. Women, how often do we ALWAYS work hard? How often do we REALLY work hard? The determination of a woman can really turn a wonderful woman into a proverbial donkey at times. I am talking of myself here. I am not calling women asses for fun, but for the fact that when we set our minds one way, it takes an act of God to undo that decision. So how often do we set our minds to ALWAYS working hard? Are we always giving 100% of ourselves to whatever God has put before us? Do we ALWAYS do our best? Our 110% best? Or do we do what we know is just enough, so that we have time to watch our TV show that night?
I’m not saying we can’t relax and watch our favorite drama, sitcom or reality show. We need down time. We would combust without downtime or personal time. But in our areas of “work” whatever our job may be, do we really ALWAYS work hard? I know I’ve gotten by on “good enough” way too often. Always means, “At all times; on all occasions”. I don't "always" work hard.
The NIV bible says it differently;“She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks”. She is strong for whatever she needs to do. That’s a thought I find comforting. God’s women are made strong for whatever they are called to do. That’s peace to me. I find that beautiful. Vigorously means, with vigor or physical strength and good health; with effort, energy, and enthusiasm. To ALWAYS work with effort and energy and enthusiasm, but to also KNOW also that I’ll be made strong for whatever work that is, is really what gives one peace. I work myself to the bone a lot with a variety of things. Not always my best efforts or enthusiasm, but to the breaking point. So this verse, of always being made strong by God for whatever task, even if it’s just not falling asleep in church when I finally make it to another Sunday, means I will be made strong! Maybe right now we aren’t always hardworking and strong, but God can make us so if we ask. There is much beauty in this image. Imagine what women could be if they grew in this verse alone!
18 She knows when to buy or sell,
and she stays busy
until late at night.
Anyone with children will stay up late just to have an hour alone. But here our industry is called on again. We know when to buy and when to sell. I don’t understand the stock market so don’t look at me. I haven’t got a clue! I’m not business-minded. But this verse holds over the idea of being diligent and industrious all day long. Not just when you’re working or when you’re being watched, but “on all occasions”.
However, maybe this first part can apply to our “retail therapy” days. When we go shopping for the heck of it or when we need to, it doesn’t matter. Maybe it’s extending that industry of keeping busy to being wise. To “know” means to “have knowledge or information concerning”. So maybe this means a call to wise purchases. Maybe we’re suppose to wisely purchase new clothes or those super cute shoes!!!! Do I need them? Is this wise?
Example: My continuous college status has put my picture in the dictionary under “poor college student”. So when I am at the store for groceries or walking a mall as a leisure activity, it has become my habit to as ask God about anything remotely considered an “extra” purchase. A lot of times, he tells me to wait. Another time, you can make a purchase like that. Wait. Knowing when to buy and when to sell. It has been good for my discipline and good for my bank account. Knowing, via God and obedience, when to buy and when to sell is actually a very happy state. I never feel regret or upset when God tells me to not buy a pair of shoes or the fixings for a giant cheesecake. He has a better plan or cuter shoes in store for me. Another time, perhaps.
19 She spins her own cloth,
Um, my mom will sew me something once and awhile... or tailor a garment when I need an adjustment. But she doesn’t spin her own cloth. She doesn’t, so I never learned to. Does that mean she failed and I fail too. F’s on that test. We are NOT P31W!!!!!!
No, not really. Again, I think this is a verse that calls us to work with industry and love and willingness. Or so I am deciphering. Any other interpretations are welcome.
My mother LOVES to comment about “how the pioneers did it”. Living in the land where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived and traveled, my mom loves to talk about how pioneers went without hot showers, electricity, churned their own butter, cooked with wood burning ovens and if you drop a box of matches it would spontaneously ignite. I’d love to see my mother in the pioneer days. I’d watch that reality show with regularity and a bowl of popcorn.
In our age of convenience and immediacy, we’ve lost a lot of appreciation for handmade stuff. When we see it at craft fairs, we’re blown away. The current vogue is to make crafty stuff left and right. Just look on Pinterest or artsy blogs and you’ll be overwhelmed. This may be a stretch but, let us bring in this idea of industry and “she spins her own cloth” to the trend of DIY projects. They are all about doing it with your hands, your creativity, (yourself!), rather than buying it ready made. They’re all about being crafty and hands-on, but maybe the emphasis should be on that she actually does it!
A woman’s hands are important. Hands are such lovely limbs and they do such great work. Go ahead and stop, and look at your hands. They have lifelines, knuckle creases, some scars maybe and personally, really bad looking fingernails! Consider the power, the skill and training they’ve been through. What have you trained those hands to do? Burp a baby? Play the piano? Julienne carrots? Repair computers? Sketch or paint? Change oil and check spark plugs? Collect toothpick holders? Play basketball? Consider the work you use them to do, the work they do right now and the work you want them to accomplish. Those hands are amazing tools! You already spin your own kind of “cloth” in life and I pray God’s blessings on it!
More NEXT TIME in P31W Part IV!!!!
DISCLAIMER: I am not a trained biblical scholar. I am just curious, bible hungry and care for my gender and our crazy methods of learning and growing as Christian women in a world that has a pretty skewed image of what women are or should be. If at any point you see a huge flaw in my logic or addition that needs to be added to the interpretation, please contact me and help me to correct or add to my expounding on this chapter.
I do not claim to have all the answers or have the CORRECT translation and meaning of all the verses in this series. I am just digging and sharing my findings and research concerning this chapter.
4/2013
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